


Bills, Bills, Bills

by htmlkitty (skyhooksandtrailmix)



Category: Backstreet Boys, NSYNC
Genre: Kind!Nick, M/M, Promiscuous!Justin, Salesman!AJ, Shy!Lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-04-08 15:05:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4309830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyhooksandtrailmix/pseuds/htmlkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A financially struggling young adults au.</p><p>Justin is doing his best, but it's tough living out of home at only 18. He works at his exhausting retail job, sings girl group songs like nobody's watching at the train station and then he goes home to his roommate Chris. Then repeat.</p><p>Justin can't bring himself to stick to the same guy, even for more than a night. When his roommate throws a party, he meets a sweet, shy man named Lance. He makes Justin  wonder if maybe he misses the idea of a relationship.</p><p>However, when Justin is down on his luck it's Nick Carter who helps him get back to his feet. But Nick has a secret that he doesn't want Justin to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Bills, Bills, Bills by Destiny's Child.

Justin loved the way that the city looked on his way home from work. He felt like he always finished at just the right time. The sun would just be starting to set and this would make everything feel softer, quieter, even if it wasn't. The weather was starting to warm up and humidity and the soft glow of the city lights against the dusty atmosphere made him feel calm. Even though the sea of people that surrounded him always seemed to be in a hurry. Or at least they acted like it.

His walking came to a stop as he arrived at a traffic light that governed a busy intersection. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call his housemate. Justin stretched his aching back as he waited for an answer. Unfortunately, a perpetually sore back was a cost of working in retail. However, he was just thankful that he even had a job. It had been hard enough for him to get so much as an interview in the first place.

"Hey man, what's up, you off work yet?"

"Hey Chris, yeah, I was just walking to the train now. I wanted to check though, is there anything that you need me to pick up for tonight while I'm in the city? Because if you remember something later, I'm NOT going to be sent on some massive errand for you".

"Um ..Um" Chris pondered nervously.

"Say it now or never" Justin giggled slightly as he crossed the road.

"Um!..um!.um" Chris's pondering became more urgent as he quickly got up to look over the cartons of beer and bags of snacks that were piled onto the kitchen table.

"Soda! I forgot to get soda" he realized.

"Alright, I'll pick some up, was there anything else?" Justin asked.

"No..no that should be fine"

"Ok, I'll see ya in like, 20 minutes" Justin concluded.

"Bye dude"

"Bye" Justin hung up the phone.

Before he slid it back into his pocket he decided to check his text messages.

"Hey, how have you been?" From Tran.

"So, when will you call me like you said you would :)" From Howie.

"Are you ignoring me?" From Howie.

"Want to catch up again some time ;)" From Anthony.

Justin sighed tiredly and put his phone away without replying to any of them.

He stopped at the dollar store to get some off brand soda then put his headphones on and walked to the train station.

His platform seemed less crowded than usual which he liked. There was a spot of wall slightly away from the other people that he leaned back against lazily. To pass the time he quietly sung along to Destiny's Child as they played from his Walkman. It didn"t really bother him if people heard him. His singing was something that he generally felt pretty confident about. He also knew better than to feel self conscious about singing as Chris would say 'girls music'. In Justin's opinion there was no such thing. If a group was talented, that was that, as far as he was concerned.

_Now you've been maxing out my card_  
_Gave me bad credit, buyin' me gifts with my own ends_  
_Haven't paid the first bill_  
_But instead you're headin' to the mall_  
_Goin' on shopping sprees_  
_Perpetrating to your friends like you be ballin'_

_You triflin', good for nothing type of brother_  
_Silly me, why haven't I found another?_  
_A baller, when times get hard, I need someone to help me out_  
_Instead of a scrub like you, who don't know what a man's about_

_Can you pay my bills?_  
_Can you pay my telephone bills?_  
_Do you pay my automo' bills?_  
_If you did then maybe we could chill_  
_I don't think you do_  
_So, you and me are through_

Justin paused the walkman when he got this feeling that somebody was staring at him. But when he looked around everybody seemed to be minding their own business.

Right as he went to hit play, his train pulled into the station. He switched to a different song and boarded the train.

His apartment that he shared with Chris wasn't too far from the city. Only a few suburbs away actually. He was lucky to have been the first person to respond to Chris's roommate wanted ad. Well, he was the only person who responded. Because he tore the ad off the noticeboard so nobody else could get the number. That kind of cheap rent and that kind of proximity to the city would not come up often. Justin couldn't risk somebody else snatching it away from him. Especially considering just how much he needed it at the time.

Justin liked living with Chris enough. He could tell that they weren't ever going to be best friends, but they got on decently well. Justin still considered him a friend. Chris was a fair bit older than him, this fact probably contributed to them feeling a bit distant from each other. But the maturity that came with that meant that there was very little drama in the house. If rent and the bills were paid, Chris was happy.

However, the only times that Chris had ever gotten truly angry at Justin was when he was behind in rent.

Justin hadn't exactly been the model roommate but Chris had never yelled at him before. Well he had, but not like that. There were nights where Justin would stumble into the apartment, bringing strange men home with him in the early hours of the morning. These encounters were becoming increasingly frequent lately. He would clumsily fall into the furniture in the dark or forget that he was meant to whisper. But no matter how little sleep Chris got because of it, he wouldn't get angry at Justin. He would generally just yell "Shut up!" From his room and that would be it.

However, The two times that Justin had ever been behind in rent Chris was almost frightening. He would be, if Justin couldn't see through it.

Chris had told him about how tough his childhood had been. His family barely even had enough money to eat, they even had to live in a car for a while. Justin could only imagine how scary that would be. To be a kid and not even know when your next meal was going to come. To not know if or when you're going to have a home.

Justin figured that Chris's outbursts were an understandable extension of that feeling. Chris had worked so hard to build some kind of stability and he was terrified of having it taken away from him. Chris wasn't in a much better financial situation than Justin either. Actually, Chris's was probably slightly worse because he felt obligated to send some money to his mother and his sisters pretty regularly. Mainly out of guilt over moving away from them.

Despite this, if they didn't overspend they still had enough money to have some fun occasionally. Tonight was one of those nights.

Justin noticed a pair of green eyes on him on the train. They belonged to a pale, young, blonde man who's hair was short and spikey. He sat across from Justin but his seat was in the corner of the carriage. Whenever Justin would look up and catch his gaze the man's eyes would quickly dart away and he would return to his reading. This would sometimes be followed by an uncomfortable shuffling in his seat. Then, minutes later, Justin would feel his eyes on him again.

This didn't make Justin uncomfortable, but it frustrated him that he couldn't put his finger on where he recognized this guy from. Or if he even knew him at all. He looked sort of familiar, but only in a vague way.

The next time that their eyes met Just gave him a small, confident smirk. The stranger immediately looked back down at his book but the corners of his mouth turned upwards shyly. He didn't look back up again until the train arrived at his station. Justin noticed the nervous manner than he held his body in as he exited the train.

Then, when the train pulled up at the next station Justin rose from his seat and made his way to the door.

It was only a short walk from the train station to his apartment, which Justin was thankful for. He could hear crashing and banging as he walked up the stairs.

"Chris! What are you up to now!?" Justin called out as he unlocked the door with his key.

"I'm not up to anything" Chris said defensively as he carelessly lifted a box that was full of items that had previously been strewn around the house. A few items fell out as he did this. Justin flinched as they hit the floor but luckily they weren"t any of the more fragile things that they owned.

"I'm cleaning up the apartment and moving away any of our belongings that could get broken" he elaborated over his shoulder to Justin as he turned to walk into his bedroom. He banged the box into the wall in the process.

"Make sure you look where your going with that" Justin reminded him. "Or you'll be the one we need to protect our stuff from" he smirked.

"Nag nag nag" Chris joked.

Justin smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, one of your 'conquests' stopped by today" Chris called out from his bedroom.

"What?! Who?" Justin asked.

Chris walked back out and shrugged "Some guy named Howie. He said he'd been trying to get in touch with you for a while. He was wondering if you'd lost your phone or something".

"Oh no" Justin said stressedly as he rubbed the back of his neck "What did you tell him?".

"I told him that you were at work but I'd tell you that he stopped by".

"You didn't tell him where I work did you?" Justin interrogated worriedly.

"No, I'm not stupid. You sure can be a jerk though. Some of these guys really like you Justin" Chris commented.

"I've already told you, I have no interest in being in a relationship" Justin reminded him.

"Yeah, well maybe you should try telling them that" Chris pulled the vaccum cleaner out of the cupboard then added "preferably BEFORE you sleep with them".

Justin was about to get defensive but Chris turned the vaccum cleaner on before Justin could even reply. This was probably on purpose.

Justin muttered something about Chris under his breath and went to tidy up his bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

"Joey! Glad you could make it" Chris said excitedly as he was handed a bottle that Joey had bought.

"Hey, that's alright. Have you got any soda to mix this guy with?" Joey gestured to the bottle.

"It's in the kitchen, on the table, help yourself" Chris pointed in it"s general direction.

"Thanks, how have you guys been anyway? Am I the first to arrive?" Joey asked.

"I've been cleaning, that's how i've been" Chris smirked. "But yeah, you are, the other guys should be getting here soon though".

"Well, we'll just have to get started without them then" Joey smiled as he walked into the kitchen.

"Fine by me" replied Chris as he followed him.

"You want a drink Justin?" Joey called out to Justin who was still sitting on the couch in the lounge room.

"Yeah sure, thanks Joey" Justin responded.

Justin had met Joey a few times. He worked with Chris at the warehouse uptown. He was pretty much Chris's best friend. Justin generally enjoyed his company, but they didn"t know each other very well. It was the same with most of Chris's friends, actually.

"And this would be yours" Joey handed Justin a glass of vodka mixed with lemonade as he sat down next to him on the couch.

"Why thank you" Justin smiled and took a sip.

Chris sat himself down on the other side of Justin.

"So, who else is coming?" Joey asked.

"Let"s see, there's Connor, Delia," Justin began to count on his fingers "Fiona, Randy..".

"And Jake" Chris interjected

"... I'm pretty sure that's it?" Justin concluded.

"Delia Is bringing her friend too. Some guy named Lance, I've never met him" Chris added.

**

A knock on the door caused Justin to scoop himself up from the floor where he had been sitting talking to Fiona.

"Hey, Delia right? what's up?" He asked in a friendly manner as he swung the door open.

"Hey Justin, sorry we're late. By the way, this is my friend Lance, he doesn't know anybody here besides me so be nice" Replied the dark haired woman who was dressed mostly in blue.

Justin recognized this friend of hers, who's green eyes were wide with shock.

"Lance? Hey, you're the guy from the train, aren't you?" Justin asked as he stepped back to let them both walk inside.

"Uh, yeah, I saw you on the train today didn't I?" Lance replied in a quiet voice.

"Didn't expect to see you here. Come over here, I'll get you a drink" Justin said confidently as he coaxed him into the kitchen.

"No, that's ok. I have to drive Delia home tonight. I don't really drink anyway" Lance explained.

"Oh..ok then. Well, I don't know, would you like me to get you a non alcoholic drink? We have some of the finest lemonade that the dollar store has to offer" he joked.

"That's ok, I brought my own" Lance said as he pulled a bottle of pineapple flavored soda out of the plastic shopping bag that he was carrying. "Thank you though".

Justin laughed slightly at this. It seemed so odd to him, coming to a party to drink pineapple soda. This appeared to make Lance slightly uncomfortable.

"What?" Lance asked nervously.

"Nothing, nothing" Justin reassured as he pulled a glass out of the cupboard and placed it on the table for him. "It's just kind of cute is all. Hey, could I try some of that too?"

"Uh, sure" Lance stuttered.

Justin quickly finished off his drink then poured some of Joey's vodka into his glass. Lance filled the rest of Justin's glass with pineapple soda then filled up his own. It almost seemed like Lance's hands were shaking slightly.

They walked back into the lounge room to join the rest of the people. Justin and Lance didn't talk to each other much after that. Mainly because Lance seemed to cling to Delia's side rather than interact with the other party guests. Justin noticed that he breifly had a chat with Chris though.

The more that Justin drank, the more fixated he became on Lance. He watched him talk to Delia from the other side of the room. He seemed so much more confident around her than he was around him.

"You got your eye on that one huh?" Chris remarked quietly as he walked over to stand next to Justin.

"Am I that obvious?" Justin laughed and took a swig of his beer. They had finished off the vodka ages ago. Justin was almost thankful that the vodka was gone. It was easier to pace himself with beer. Knowing that Lance wasn't drinking made Justin feel like he should try to not drink too much. He wanted to still feel in control of himself.

"Not really, but I know you well enough to recognize that look. I'm a bit surprised though. He doesn"t seem like the type you usually go for" Chris commented.

"What do you mean by that?"Justin asked.

"I don't know. He seems so sweet and shy. Like he's too pure for you"

Justin lightly shoved him for that remark. Chris laughed.

"Do you even know if he's not straight?" Chris asked.

"Well..not exactly. But the way that he was staring at me on the train seems like a pretty good indication" Justin speculated.

Chris put a hand on Lances shoulder "At least TRY not to hurt this one will you? He seems like a nice dude"

"I don't want to hurt anybody" protested Justin as he folded his arms.

"Good" Chris said as he walked away to see what Joey was up to.

A few beers later, Justin noticed that Lance had walked down the hallway towards the bathroom. For the first time since they were in the kitchen, Lance finally wasn't joined at the hip with Delia anymore. In that moment nothing seemed more exciting to Justin than the idea of pulling him into his bedroom.

Justin looked back at the party. Most of the guests were bordering on tipsy and drunk. They were too immersed in conversations with each other to pay attention to much else. Especially Chris, who seemed a fair bit more drunk than the rest.

Justin turned up the music slightly to give himself some more privacy. Then he stumbled down the hallway.

"Oh, Justin, hey" Lance said startledly as he exited the bathroom.

"Hey Lance" Justin kicked his foot off the wall that he had just been leaning against. Then he tried to give Lance one of his best charming grins "how have you liked the party so far?".

"It's been nice" He replied with a shy smile.

"I'm glad..hey, uh, would I maybe be able to talk to you in private for a moment?"

"Sure, what about?" Lance asked confusedly.

"My room's just over here" Justin led Lance into his bedroom and shut the door behind them.

"I was wondering, do I know you from somewhere?" Justin asked as he clumsily sat down on his bed. Lance was still standing in front of him.

"No..you don't know me" Lance said softly.

"Really? You seem kind of familiar".

Lance didn't say anything but he looked down and half smiled awkwardly.

Justin playfully gestured for Lance to sit next to him and he complied. Lance giggled slightly at the loose way that intoxicated Justin moved.

"Are you sure? When I saw you on the train I felt like I must have seen you around somewhere".

"Oh, well I guess you might have seen me around" Lance replied. "I catch the same train as you pretty often" he added cautiously.

"You do?" Justin tilted his head.

"I'm not creepy or anything" Lance hastily clarified. "I catch that train home from work too and I've just..noticed you there before".

"Really? How did I only notice you today?".

Lance shrugged "It's not like I stand out that much" he replied.

"Well I wish that I had noticed earlier that such a handsome man was catching my train" Justin flashed his charming smile again. It was maybe slightly more crooked as the alcohol effected him more.

Lance's body seemed to tense up "Thank you" he replied timidly, barely making eye contact.

"Why are you so nervous?" Justin asked as he leaned slightly closer.

"Uh, I don't know. I'm just an anxious person I guess..sorry" Lance hated how bad he was at hiding it when he felt nervous.

"You don't have to be sorry, it's ok" Justin leaned back "I'm not making you uncomfortable am I?".

"No, no, you're fine" Lance reassured flusteredly.

"Would it be ok if I asked you something though?".

"Yeah, sure"

He leaned closer to Lance again. "I was just wondering if there was a reason why you kept staring at me on the train?" Justin asked in a tone like he was telling a secret.

"I-I wasn't staring at you" Lance stuttered.

"Really? You seemed like you couldn't keep your eyes off me" Justin smirked confidently. "Well that's dissapointing".

Lance looked at him very directly "What do you mean?" he asked. Lance's pale skin was flushed and his eyes were bright. He looked wide awake compared to everybody else at the party.

"Well I guess I was just kind of hoping that you were staring at me. Because I know I've had my eye on you all night" Justin said boldly, still leaning slightly into Lance's personal space.

"You have?" Lance's heart raced. He wasn't used to hot guys hitting on him. Especially not hot guys who he quietly longed after every time that he commuted from work.

"But if you're not interested then-" Justin knew that he was interested. He could see straight through Lance, but he wanted him to say it.

"I am..interested" Lance interrupted like Justin knew that he would.

Justin raised his eyebrows "You are?".

Lance simply nodded.

"So..I guess it would be ok if I kissed you then?" Justin asked confidently as he stroked Lances cheek. It was like Justin could feel the warmth of him blushing.

"Yeah, that would be ok" Lance smiled nervously.

Justin leaned into his soft lips and Lance felt so happy in that moment.

They kissed passionately until Justin felt that he wanted to try to move things further. He had noticed that Lance's breathing had become heavier and his touch more desperate. Justin knew that Lance wasn't going to make the move, no matter how much he may have wanted to. Justin remembered back when he was that timid. But now, hooking up with guys he barely knew was just a normal part of his week. It's funny how things change.

With one of his hands in Lance's hair and the other on his shoulder, Justin slowly pushed him to lie down on the bed.

Lance could feel the weight of Justin's warm body pushing against his hips. With hungry eyes he gazed up at him, waiting. Justin forced their lips together again and ran his hand down Lance's body slowly. Taking in every detail before arriving at the zipper of his pants. Lance moaned slightly and kissed him even harder in response to this. Justin was turned on by his eagerness.

Then Justin freed him from his tight jeans and pulled off his shirt. Lance swallowed hard as he looked into Justin's intense dark blue eyes. He felt totally exposed, laying there almost naked with Justin on top of him, fully clothed.

He almost started to feel self conscious but this feeling was quickly overridden by Justin's touch. It was like his every nerve ending was standing to attention. Something as small as Justin delicately running a fingertip over Lance's chest would give him shivers all over.

Justin slowly made a trail of tiny kisses down Lance's body. First, his tender neck, then he moved down his torso and tasted sweat on his lips. He started to pull Lance's underwear down as he kissed the pale and delicate skin of his hip bones. This made Lance inhale sharply. He grabbed at the sheets as Justin took him into his mouth.

Lance had never felt anything that good before. As his breathing became more frenzied and shallow, Justin grabbed his thighs almost painfully tight. Then he started moving even faster.

This sensation was overwhelming to Lance and he could feel the pressure building. He was embarrassed at how quickly Justin was able to get him to this point. He dug his nails into the mattress beneath him and gasped as he felt release. It felt like a warm glow washed over him and he was speechless.

Justin lightly kissed around his hips before moving up to lay next to him.

He turned to Lance who was still staring at the ceiling. "Was that ok?" He asked quietly.

"T-that was amazing..you're amazing" he panted.

Justin smirked at this. He loved getting that kind of reaction.

He got up to grab some tissues from his desk to clean up with then sat down on the edge of the bed. He handed a few tissues to Lance.

"Thanks"

"No problem" replied Justin.

After cleaning up a bit Lance pulled up his underwear and climbed off the bed to stand in front of Justin.

He bent down to kiss him, putting his hands on Justin's knees. Then he clumsily attempted to get Justin's shirt off, which Justin ended up assisting him with. Lance was taken aback by how beautiful Justin looked without his shirt on. it was better than his fantasies. He was still a bit in disbelief at the whole situation. He was in bed with Justin, the unrelentingly cute boy from the train.

He was one of Lance's favourite parts of the day and had been for a while. He loved hearing him confidently sing girl group songs at the station like nobody's watching. Or overhearing his funny banter with Chris on the phone on his way home from work. Even that adorable spacey look that he gets when he stares out the train window and you just want to know what he's thinking about.

And now he'd finally noticed him.

Lance ran his hand along Justin's smooth chest then down to unzip his pants. He kissed him one more time before lowering to his knees.

Justin noticed that Lances hands were shaking slightly as he pulled his pants down to his ankles.

"Uh, are you ok Lance?" Justin asked with concern. He put a hand on Lances shoulder to make him stop what he was doing.

"Yeah, why? did I do something wrong?" Lance replied timidly.

"No just..you seem nervous. I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do"

"Oh..I guess I am..It's not that I don't want to. Beleive me, I want to. It's just that i've never really done this before" Lance confessed. "I just want to be able to make you feel as good as you made me feel but I'm worried that I'm gonna do it wrong".

"You're a virgin?" Justin asked surprisedly.

"Well..yeah" Lance answered.

"So you've never done anything with a guy?" Justin questioned.

"Well I made out with a few guys when I was a teenager..and there's what I just did with you. But that's about it. I sort of have a hard time meeting people and being gay doesn't make it easier" he explained.

"When you were a teenager? How old are you now?" Asked Justin.

"20.." Lance frowned "How old are you? I should have probably asked that earlier".

"I'm 18 don't worry" Justin laughed. "Wow, I wouldn't have guessed you were older than me though".

"Yeah, I kind of figured you were my age. Not that 18 and 20 is a big difference".

Lance looked down at himself and realized that they were making small talk while he was on his knees in front of Justin's crotch.

Justin noticed the same thing and quickly pulled his pants up.

"Does it bother you that I didn't..you know" Lance asked.

"No, don't worry about it" Justin reassured.

"Well, I guess there's next time"

Justin never knew how to handle this assumption that there was going to be a next time. In some ways, he really didn't suit being a one night stand kind of guy. He didn't like to act like a jerk and he generally treated the guy he was with with respect. At least while he was with them. This would make them assume that what they had was something more. Then he wouldn't have the heart to correct them in the moment.

Though, as nice as he was to their face, the fact that he could never get the guts to reject them in a straight forward way kind of made him a jerk. He didn't mean to be that way though. He wasnt good at saying no to people. Especially not when these men would get so emotionally invested in him. He didn't intend to string them along, but it would just sort of happen.

It's not like he was out there lying to them. The idea of it being anything more than what it was would be purely their idea. At least that's how he saw it. He did like these guys and he did enjoy their company. It wasnt only a sex thing. But this didn't change the fact that he had no desire to be tied down to anybody. Not even for more than one night.

Before Justin had to reply they were interrupted by the sound of something breaking.

Justin's shoulder's tensed up "I should probably go see what that was" he sighed.

The both got dressed and left the room.

"HEY shjoey g-give that back!"

"No Chris! As your friend it's my responsibility to not let you call your ex girlfriend when you're like this" Joey said authoritatively with Chris's phone in his hand.

"S-shum frien you are!" Chris slurred bitterly from the lounge room floor, with shards of broken glass around him.

Joey sighed. He knew that he didn't actually mean that.

"Oh dear" Justin said quietly and walked over.

Lance remained in the corner with wide eyes.

Chris swung himself around "JUSHTIN! You t-tell him how Danielle still loves ME!".

"Danielle still loves him, Joey" Justin said to him blankly with a small smile but sad eyes.

"SEE!? E-even Jushtin knows. Now i-if you would jusht let me CALL HER!"

"She doesn't want you to call her tonight Chris" Justin said calmly.

"Yesh she d-does! She does because s-she loves me!" He declareled as he noticed the cord to the home phone. He attempted to bring it down to his level by pulling on the cord. This resulted in many items from the table falling and crashing onto him. The home phone landed with a bang on his face.

"Ow!" Chris cried out pathetically and covered his face. It was obvious to Justin and Joey that this was when the tears would begin.

"Ok parties over guy. Sorry" Justin announced to the guests.

There were a few dissapointedly groans but they understood. They gathered their belongings and left one by one.

"Would you like me to stay and help with Chris?" Joey offered.

"No..I should be ok. Thanks though. I just need to get him to bed. He'll be fine tomorrow. If not still a little heartbroken" Justin replied.

"Ok, well call me if either of you need anything"

"Thanks Joey, bye".

Lance was the last guest to leave. He had hung back so that he'd get a chance to talk to Justin. His friend was waiting for him outside.

"Is he going to be alright?" Lance asked concernedly.

"Yeah, this just sort of happens sometimes" Lance explained. "Well, since Danielle left him it does".

"Ok, well I hope that you can cheer him up" he smiled weakly.

"Oh, also.." Lance pulled out his phone "Would I maybe be able to get your number for like, if you want to hang out some time.. Or something".

Something about Lances eyes were too expectant, too full of hope. Justin Timberlake for the 200th time couldn't bring himself to say no to a pretty face.

"Sure" he replied.


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't you have work today?" Asked Chris when he noticed that Justin still hadn't moved from the couch. He'd been there playing tekken 2 on Chris's PlayStation since he woke up.

"Not until the afternoon" answered Justin without taking his focus away from the screen.

Chris was getting ready to head off for another exhausting day at the mattress warehouse. A week had passed since the party and Chris hadn't mentioned Danielle since. He wasn't much of a feelings kinda guy when he was sober.

"Heh heh, I'm tekken out the trash" Justin muttered as he defeated Armour King with Law.

"That was terrible" Chris shook his head.

Justin smiled but ignored him.

Just then, Justin's phone went off from the table that Chris was standing next to.

"Hey, could you pass my phone?" Justin asked as he paused the game.

"Yeah".

Chris frowned when he glanced down at the phone screen.

"You're such a jerk Justin" he commented as he handed him his phone.

"Why?" Justin exclaimed offendedly.

"Because you're probably ignoring every message that poor guy sends you".

"Hey that's not true!" He responded indignantly.

"Really?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Not every message..I replied a few days ago..when he asked if I wanted to go to a movie with him".

"Yeah? And what did you tell him?"

"..I told him that I had a stomach ache and had to stay home".

"But you didn't have a stomach ache, i was with you" Chris said dissaprovingly.

"Then he offered to come over and take care of me until I felt better" Justin rolled his eyes. He felt guilty immediately afterwards though.

"And just what's wrong with that?" Chris interrogated.

"That's what people in relationships do! There is no logical reason why he should care about me like that anyway, he's only even hung out with me once. Why do guys have to get so obsessed with me? Why can't they just appreciate what we had and leave it at that?" He exclaimed frustratedly.

"Did you not have a good time with Lance?" Questioned Chris.

"I had a great time with Lance! But why should that mean that I suddenly want to be in a relationship with him? I don't want to be in a relationship with anybody" Justin explained.

Chris sighed "You know Justin, not everybody is going to treat you like Kevin did. Somebody like Lance might be really good for you".

Justin folded his arms "We are NOT talking about Kevin right now, unless of course you feel like talking about Danielle?"

Chris held up his hands defensively "Ok, ok, I get it" he dismissed.

Justin stopped to read the message from Lance and sighed. He started texting back a response.

"What are you telling him?"

"That I quit my job".

Chris's eyes widened "And why would you be telling him this?" he asked.

"Because he asked me why he hasn't seen me on the train" Justin said as he hit the send button.

"You've stopped catching the train just to avoid Lance!? How are you getting to work!?" Chris exclaimed alarmedly.

"I get the bus now, it's no big deal. Well, it's made me late a couple of times, but-"

"You're unbelievable. Speaking of, i'm going to be late for work if I keep talking to you" Chris stomped off to grab his work boots.

Justin slumped back on the couch. He actually felt really guilty about Lance. He normally felt a certain level of guilt about not being honest to guys who sleep with him. But Lance was so nice. He seemed so genuine and caring. It kind of made Justin feel like a piece of shit. Maybe Chris was right. Maybe a guy like Lance would be good for him. Too bad a guy like Lance didn't meet him before Kevin did. Because it didn't really matter how great Lance was. He could be the sexiest, nicest guy in the world and Justin still wouldn't want to date him.

"Bye, I hope that your bus is on time today" Chris remarked as he hurried out the door.

"See ya" Justin said blankly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song is Don't say you love me by m2m.

Justin's feet stomped down on the hot pavement as he made his way to the bus stop. The vibrance of the blue sky was untarnished by clouds and the sun blared at him.

He double checked the timetable when he arrived. He got there with a few minutes to spare.

There were a few other people standing around the bus shelter but there was a spot left on the seat for Justin.

However, as time passed he became restless. He pulled out his Walkman, selected a song and stood back up. He leaned against the back of the bus shelter and sung along.

_You're moving too fast, I don't understand you_

_I'm not ready yet, baby I can't pretend_  
_No I can't_  
_The best I can do is tell you to talk to me_  
_It's possible, eventual_  
_Love will find a way_

_Love will find a way_

Justin furrowed his brow in confusion as he heard another voice join him at the last line. He swung himself around to see a man with mid legnth sandy blonde hair that framed his smiling face. Even though Justin was surprised they both continued singing.

_Don't say you love me_  
_You don't even know me_  
_If you really want me_  
_Then give me some time_

A smile crept across Justin's face. This guy could actually sing really well! His voice seemed to suit the song even better than Justin's.

_Don't go there baby_  
_Not before I'm ready_  
_Don't say your heart's in a hurry_  
_It's not like we're gonna get married_

_Give me, give me some time_

Justin stopped when he saw the bus approach in the distance.

" _Oo, na na na na na na na_ " The blonde stranger continued but he stopped and laughed when he realized that Justin wasn't joining him.

You're a really good singer" Justin complimented. When he looked him over, the first thing that stood out about this man was the casual but well styled way that he dressed. Then it was how his body language seemed so at ease. Like he was totally uninhibited.

"Thanks, you too, you should be like, famous or something. I'm Nick by the way" he said warmly as the bus pulled in.

"I'm Justin" he smiled as they went to board the bus.

Justin went and found a seat near the back. He was ready for his usual 20 minutes of staring out the window.

"Hey is it ok if I sit here?" Nick interrupted.

"Uh, sure" Justin said as he shuffled over.

"So..'Target' huh?" Nick commented while looking at Justin's uniform, a red button up shirt and black pants.

"Yeah..it pays the bills.." Justin said unenthusiastically.

"You don't live with your parents or in a college dorm? How old are you?" Nick asked

"18, and I'm not going to college".

"That's pretty young to be out of home. Well, i've been out of home since I was your age, but my home situation was..less than ideal"

"Uh, i'm sorry to hear that..how old are you, anyway?" Justin asked.

Justin didn't really know what to say. On public transport he was used to everybody mutually pretending that the other passengers weren't there. It was like Nick had broken some unspoken social code.

"19, I probably made it sound like I was older" he laughed. "Since I was _yoour_ age" he mocked himself in old man voice that made Justin giggle.

"So, what's your story? Why are you living away from home?..if you don't mind me asking" Nick questioned hesitantly.

"Well.." Justin wasn't used to strangers talking that openly either. It was like Nick was from another planet. Yet for some reason he felt compelled to tell him. His face seemed trustworthy somehow. Almost like they were already friends.

"You really want to know?"

Nick nodded eagerly.

"Well, I had this boyfriend" Justin glanced up to check for any sign of judgment in Nick's eyes. There was none to be seen so he continued. "Kevin.."

"I loved him. But because of our age difference most people who cared about me didn't approve. When Kevin asked me to live with him I felt like I was going to prove all of them wrong. Pretty much everybody warned me against it, they said that he was no good but I didn't beleive them."

"Then right before Kevin and I moved out here from Tenessee my mum and I had a huge fight. Like, really huge. I've never seen her that angry before and I hope that I never do again. I'm pretty certain that she wouldn't let me back home, not after that. Not after the things that were said".

Justin stared at the sticky bus floor "But the worst part is that i'm too ashamed to tell her what happened with Kevin, that she was right. I'm so ashamed that I haven't even asked if I'm allowed to go home. I haven't spoken to her since that fight".

Nick was looking at him with soft caring eyes. "I'm sorry that happened to you" he said sincerely. "Who are you staying with now? Are you ok?".

It took Justin by surprise, but it actually felt really nice to have somebody worry about him. Even if they were a stranger, even if they were just being nice. While Chris was nice, he wasn't exactly as caring as his friends back home were. He wouldn't be the type to worry about him or look out for him. Justin was ok with it though. He had learnt how to be less Dependant on others since he moved away.

"Yeah, all that's behind me now. I have an apartment with my friend Chris".

"Well that's good" Nick commented.

Justin wondered why he told all that to a total stranger. In a way though, it felt easier than talking about it with somebody he knew. He couldn't quite tell if it was easier because he was a stranger or because he was Nick.

"What about you?" Justin asked curiously.

"I'd tell you but I might make you late for work" Nick laughed.

Justin looked out the bus window.

"With the traffic the way it is it looks like I might be late for work anyway, so go" Justin prompted.

"If you insist" Nick ran his fingers through his hair, figuring out where to begin.

"Hmmmm.. Well, basically my mum had this great idea that she wanted at least one of her kids to be famous. Because i could sing she started training me for show business before I was even old enough to understand what i was doing. Let alone have any choice in it. I did commercials, I recorded a demo cd, I was even an extra in Edward scissorhands".

"You didn't like it?".

It never made me happy, I just wanted to do kid stuff, you know? It was all about her making money off me. In some ways it feels like the entertainment industry is a legal form of child labor. I feel like i didn't even get to have a childhood because she sold it.".

"That's rough, man" Justin nodded sadly.

"She was so focused on me becoming her little star that she didn't pay any attention to what was actually going on for me. Nobody in the family did. I was stressed and exhausted from spending all my time at lessons and rehearsal. My grades were dropping, I was being bullied in school".

He added bitterly "Maybe she wouldn't have needed her kid to make money for her if my family didn"t drink so damn much".

"That's awful Nick" Justin said sympathetically. "My mum made me do pageants and singing contests as a kid, she even got me to audition for mickey mouse club, but it was nothing like that. How did you get away?".

"Well until I was 18 any money that I earned from work went straight into her account and I would barely see any of it. But once I turned 18 I could legally get my boss to pay directly to my account without her knowing about it".

"What happened when she found out?" Asked Justin, hanging on Nick's every word.

"I didn't stick around to find out" smirked Nick. "I got offered a main part in a commercial for 'Best and Less', it was a pretty big deal. I had my things packed and ready. Then as soon as I got paid I left. I got the train here from Florida and that was that. I lived off the money from the commercial until I got on my feet".  

"Wow, that was pretty brave of you".

"I guess, I just had to get away, you know?".

Justin nodded.

There was a brief silence before Justin delicately asked "Do you..don't you miss your family sometimes?" Justin looked down sadly "Because I sure miss mine sometimes".

Justin wouldn't normally show this much vulnerability to somebody he had just met. However, Nick had really opened up to him. He felt like even though there were big differences, in some ways their situations were quite similar.

"Of course. I still keep in touch with my little bro Aaron though. He's the only one I could trust to not tell mum that I was in contact with them".

How old is your brother?".

"The kid's only 12, so it's pretty hard to keep in touch without mum finding out, but we manage it" Nick answered.

Justin furrowed his brow "How do you do that?".

"I have to call the home phone until Aaron picks up. You have no idea how hard it is when one of my sisters picks up. When all I want is to be able to talk to them but I just have to hang up the phone".

"That would be hard" Justin said solemnly.

"It's ok though" Nick put his hand on Justin's shoulder. "It gets easier and I know that it will for you too".

"Thanks".

"This is my stop" Nick said as he stood up from his seat.

"Bye, it was nice meeting you" Justin gave him a small wave.

Nick scoffed "What's that? come on, hug it out".

"Wha-".

Before Justin could react, Nick Carter's arms were holding him in a tight squeeze. So tight that he felt almost dizzy as he was released.

"It was nice meeting you too Justin, see ya around" Nick flashed him a friendly smile then walked off the bus.

Justin watched Nick get further away as the bus drove off. This bus ride had been so odd that he almost wondered if Nick was an alien.

"Shit" Justin muttered as he checked the time on his phone.

He was definitely late for work.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Justin hated how he looked in his work uniform. Particulary because he had to wear his shirt tucked in. He would leave it untucked until the last minute when he was about to walk inside.

"You're late again, Timberlake" said Paul the assistant manager.

"I know, I'm really sorry, my bus got caught in traffic" Justin explained apologetically.

'Well, the boss wants to have a word with you about it. They said for you to go straight to their office as soon as you arrived" he informed Justin.

"Oh? Is it bad?'"Justin enquired worriedly.

Paul simply shrugged then resumed working.

Justin was more than a little bit concerned as he made his way to the office.

He knocked on the door and waited patiently for an answer.

"Ah yes, Justin, come and have a seat" The store manager Rachel said as she opened the door.

Justin wrung his hands together in his lap as he anxiously awaited what she waswas ooing to say.

"Hmmmm" she was taking her time looking through his file. "It seems that you've also been late 2 times in the last week..and why is that?".

"I've had some problems with public transport. I've been catching the bus and it keeps arriving at a different time than it says it will" he explained.

"Being late once is too many times. You know that, right Justin?" Asked Rachel sternly.

"Yes Ma'am. I'm very sorry, it won't happen again" Justin stared at the floor shamefully.

"Right" she didn't seem very convinced. "The thing is.. I don't know if there is going to be a next time Justin".

"What do you mean?" Justin's heart pounded.

"I'm very sorry but we need our employees to be reliable. If the bus made you late once then you should have caught an earlier bus. Instead you allowed yourself to be late two more times".

"But it wasn't my fault. I don't control the traffic!" Justin exclaimed.

"Our other employees manage to get here on time, even despite the traffic" she replied.

"Yeah but most of them drive a car to work" Justin muttered.

"It's because they are responsible with time management Justin" Rachel interrupted. "I'm sorry but we're going to have to let you go".

"No, no..you can't do this. You don't know how much I need this job! I'm sorry! I'll do better!" Justin desperately pleaded. His need for a job was greater than his need for dignity.

"I know that this might be upsetting, but I hope that you can learn from this" Rachel said in an attempt to comfort him.

"How am I going to learn when I can't even afford to eat?" He remarked bitterly.

"I'm sorry that you feel that way Justin" she said coldly as she stood up to open her door"

"Yeah, whatever" Justin said apathetically as he walked out of the office.

"And return your uniform by Thursday".

He rolled his eyes at her as he continued walking and untucked his shirt.

 

* * *

 

Justin got a few weird looks when he kicked the outside wall of target repeatedly. He had to take out his frustration somehow.

When he arrived at the bus stop to go home he thew his body down on the seat and put his face in his hands.

He was so angry about how hard he had worked to land this job and how hard it was going to be to find another. He was angry that he had bills to pay and groceries to buy. He was angry at his mother. He was angry at Kevin. He was angry at Rachel, but most of all he was angry at himself.

For most of the bus ride home he went over a list of worries about the future while staring out the window. By the time it arrived at his stop he was so emotionally exhausted that he was ready to go to sleep.

He walked the short walk to the apartment and unlocked the door.

"Heeeeeeey Jushtinn!"

"Hey Chris?" Justin said confusedly as he stepped into the lounge room. Chris was on the couch, shirtless with a bottle in his hand.

"Y-you'll never guesh who called ME today" he slurred.

Justin had known Chris to drink a lot. But this might have been the drunkest he had seen him.

"Who?"

"N-no you have to guess" he laughed.

"I don't know Ch-"

"DANSIELLE!" Chris interrupted. Then he took a swig straight from the bottle.

"Oh.." Justins eyes widened. This could be very good or very bad. Probably bad.

"Yeah, w-well her new boyfriend called first. To to tell me to stop calling her when I'm drunk. She has a newwww boyfriend" He had a very fake smile on his face.

"Chris, I'm so sorry"

"T-then I got to talk to Dansielle. She said thatsh I have to never contact her again" he started to get choked up "and she said that we would never get back together!" He cried.

Justin's shoulders slumped and he went to join Chris on the couch.

"It'll be ok, you'll find somebody else" Justin comforted as he hugged him.

"Yeah, right" Chris scoffed. "We we can't all be lucksy like you. With kind, fun and at-attractive people just throwing themselves at you".

Justin sighed "I'm not that lucky".

"Yes you aare" Chris laughed drunkenly.

Justin didn't laughed along or even smile.

"Uh, are you ok Jushtin? What's up?" Chris slurred.

Against his better judgment, Justin decided to tell him about what happened. He was gonna find out anyway.

"I got fired" he said blankly.

"You what!?" Chris exclaimed.

"Got fired" he already regretted telling him.

"WHAT?! HOW?!" Chris's eyes widened like he'd been woken from his drunken haze.

"My stupid fucking bus was late again today. Apparently I'm 'not responsible with time management' " Justin groaned.

"Jus-Justin, this is a really big deal" Chris said alarmedly.

"Don't you think I know th-"

"What am I going to do?!" Chris interrupted as he jumped off the couch and started pacing around. He gathered all of the unpaid bills that were laying around their apartment.

"Calm down Chris, it'll be ok".

"It'll b-be ok?! And just how the fuck do you figure that Justin?!" He interrogated angrily while looking over the bills.

"I'll work something out" Justin replied.

"Life doesn't work like that, you can't just wing it ands h-hope for the best. Beleive me, I know" he said frustratedly.

"Chris, I'll get another job. Let's not make this a big deal" Justin reassured.

"So, me getting kicked out of MY apartment because my stupid roommate would rather avoid some poor guy he fucked than get to work on time is 'not a big deal' then?!" Chris yelled.

The rage seemed to sober him up a fair bit. He was a bit more coherent.

"Oh, last time I checked this was OUR apartment, actually" Justin debated angrily. "And who I fuck and whether or not I want to see them afterwards is NONE of your business".

"It's my business when you not wanting to see them afterwards makes you lose your job! Where are we going to get the money for the electricity bill now, huh? Us having this apartment is kind of Dependant on you being employed, idiot".

"Look Chris I w-"

"Have you at least got enough left over for next weeks rent?" Chris demanded while sorting through the various bills.

"..well no" Justin looked down shamefully. "Maybe I'll get a loan out or something" he suggested.

"Except that you already got a loan out? Remember? You can't borrow when you're still paying them back" Chris said quite condescendingly. Almost like Justin was a child.

Justin sighed, knowing that he was out of ideas. He watched Chris pace around some more.

"What do you want me to do Chris?" He asked defeatedly.

"I want you to pack up your shit so I can start looking for a new roommate. A roommate who actually grasps the importance of paying rent! Then maybe.. Just MAYBE I won't lose this apartment".

"What!? Chris you can't! Where will I go!?" Justin cried.

"That's not my responsibility Justin. My responsibility is keeping a roof over my head. I'm not your parent!" He lectured.

"..but" Justin muttered as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Maybe you should go back to your mum and beg for her forgiveness if you need a parent so fucking badly! I can't look after you Justin! In case you hadn't noticed I can barely look after myself! I wanted a roommate, not a son! And a condition of being a roommate is paying your fucking rent!" Chris yelled before he stomped into his room and slammed the door.

"Chris.."

"I don't care! Just pack your stuff and leave me alone" He cried as he took a large swig from his bottle.

Justin sobbed as he went to pack up his belongings. He felt so pathetic. If he was back in Tennesseehe would have plenty of friends who were willing to take him in. But then he moved here, with nobody but Kevin and Kevin's friends to depend on. Little surprise that they didn't want anything to do with him after they broke up. Then Chris was his only friend. Now he didn't even have Chris.

He didn't own very much, he didn't have the money to. It was kind of depressing seeing just how easily his life could be packed into a suitcase.

Then he walked out of Chris's apartment, without saying goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

Justin had worry plastered over his face as he lugged his heavy suitcase down the street. The sun was setting and he had no idea where he was going to sleep. He figured he might just avoid the sleep thing entirely. He could catch a bus into the city, buy a few energy drinks and spend the night in the internet cafe. At least that way he would have somewhere to be. It was the best idea that he could come up with.

But he was tired. He was so incredibly tired. When he dwelled on just how much he wished he could be curled up in a warm bed he started crying again. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money to have a bed.

He kept walking towards the bus stop with tears streaming down his face. He didn't even try to wipe them away anymore. He was too over it to care.

"Hey Justin, is that you?" A voice called from behind him.

Justin stopped swerved around "Nick?".

Nick hurried towards him when he saw the look on his face, as did the Labrador that he had on a leash.

"Shit, are you ok Justin?" He asked concernedly.

"No, Chris just kicked me out" he sobbed and attempted to wipe his tears away.

"Why did he do that?" He questioned.

"Because I was too stupid to figure out how to get the bus to work without being late. I got fired." Justin choked up.

"Justin..you're not stupid. It's not your fault if the bus was late. I was late to my appointment that day too. These things happen" he comforted.

"My boss didn't see it that way" Justin retorted.

"Bosses don't know anything. They make so much money that they probably haven't had to catch public transport since they were teenagers. They don't know what it's like" Nick argued. This made Justin feel slightly better.

"I guess..hey, is that you're dog?" Justin asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, this is Steve, he's a pretty cool guy" Nick smiled.

"Nice to meet you Steve" Justin smiled as he patted the dog. His tears seemed to have stopped.

"Have you got somewhere to go?" Nick asked. The smile left Justin's face.

"Well.. Not technically, but it's alright. I was gonna get the bus to the cyber cafe and hang out there" he explained.

Nick frowned "Where will you sleep?".

"I guess I won't sleep" Justin shrugged.

Nick gently put his hand on Justin's arm "Justin, you have to be able to sleep, it's a necessity not a luxury".

Justin looked back at his sympathetic eyes and struggled to know what to say.

"It's not really like i have any other option" he muttered.

"You could stay at my place? I've got an apartment just up that street there" Nick offered.

"Thank you, but I couldn't ask you to do that" Justin dismissed sadly.

"Hey, you're not asking silly, I'm offering" Nick playfully nudged him. "Besides it might be nice to have some company around the apartment for a while. It gets a bit boring with just Steve and I".

"You.. You'd really be ok with it?" Justin's eye's widened.

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't" he replied.

"Nick! Thank you!" This time it was Justin who trapped Nick in an almost suffocating hug.

"That's ok, really" Nick laughed. "Let's take your stuff home" he suggested as he was released from Justin's arms.

 

* * *

 

 

 

While it was nothing fancy, Nick's apartment building looked quite modern. It was a lot nicer than where Justin had been.

"This is it" Nick walked inside and let Steve off his leash.

"Wow, you've got a nice place. And they even let you have animals here?" Justin commented, looking around at his new surroundings.

"Yup. Hey you can put your stuff down over here if you want" Nick offered and gestured to a corner of the lounge room.

Justin nodded and complied.

"I haven't got an extra mattress or anything so you'll have to sleep on the couch, is that ok? I should have mentioned that before" said Nick.

"Anywhere with a roof is fine, really" Justin assured him.

"I'll make it extra comfy, you'll totally forget that it isn't a bed" said Nick.

"Thank you" said Justin bashfully. He didn't want Nick to go too out of his way for him. But he

"I'll show you around" Nick smiled and walked through to the hallway.

Justin hurried behind him.

"This is my room" He opened the door, but just to let Justin know what was there, they didn't go inside.

It was pretty messy, messier than the rest of the house which was pretty tidy. He noticed a computer on the desk in the corner.

"And here's the bathroom. Towels are kept in here, you could use the blue towels if you want" He said as he showed Justin the bathroom and the linen closet.

"Thanks" replied Justin, unsure of what else to say.

Nick turned around and walked back through the hallway.

"The lounge room you've already seen, but here's the kitchen" Nick led him into the kitchen which joined onto the lounge room. They were divided by half a wall. If you were sitting at the kitchen table you could see over to the sofa and the TV.

"Help yourself to any of the food, if any things off limits I'll let you know" said Nick.

"Ok.. I'll give you some money as soon as I'm able to, I promise. I want to to contribute somehow" said Justin, feeling a little guilty from Nick's kindness.

Nick waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about that right now" he walked over to look in the almost bare pantry. "Wow, i should get some groceries. It'll be nice to have somebody to help me carry them home.. Unless you're busy, it's fine if you are busy".

" No, no, I could help you with that. It's the least I could do." Justin replied.

"Awesome" Nick smiled. "Hey, have you eaten yet?" He asked.

"No.. I don't really have an appetite at the moment though" Justin answered honestly.

"That's fair enough, you've been through a lot" Nick said, reaching into the pantry. "But, if you want to try.." He handed Justin a packet of chocolate cookies. "You might feel better if you eat something".

Tnen he changed the subject, to not seem like he was fussing over Justin. "Hey, have you been watching that new TV show about the undercover alien family?"

"Yes! I love that show".

"If you wanna watch, it'll be on in a few minutes?" Nick suggested, glancing at the kitchen clock.

"Yeah sure" Justin smiled.

They walked into the lounge room and sat down.

As they watched the show Justin felt a bit more at ease. He felt a bit more comfortable around Nick just from sitting with him and laughing at the same jokes on TV.

Eventually the knot in his stomach went away and he had some of the cookies that Nick had given him. Nick was right, he felt quite a bit better with some food. Even if it was junk food. He felt less weak and shaky than he had before.

As time went on Justin would periodically check with Nick that he wasn't keeping him up late. But Nick would just say that it didn't bother him, that he would go to sleep when Justin was ready to.

Justin was quietly thankful. While they were just hanging out watching TV it was unexpectedly easy for this to feel like home. But he was worried that that feeling would go away when he was left alone. And what would remain would be doubts, worries and regrets.

Eventually Justin was tiref enough to want to attempt to sleep. Which was lucky for Nick who had been downplaying how tired he was himself. He didn't want to leave Justin alone.

Nick grabbed a pile of blankets from the linen closet and set up Justin's 'bed'. He chuckled to himself at how much he felt like a mother, laying the blankets out for optimal comfort. He grabbed a pillow from his own bed and handed it to Justin.

"Well, uh, goodnight Justin. I'll see you tomorrow I guess" Nick said.

Justin settled back down on the sofa, pulling the blankets over himself.

"Goodnight. Thanks for everything".

Nick smiled tiredly and walked into his bedroom.

He took off his pants and threw them into the clothes hamper in the corner of his room. Then he lay himself down in bed.

He felt really good, strangely. It was nice to have somebody around for a change. Even if it was only temporary.


	7. Chapter 7

Justin and Nick turned out to be oddly compatible as far as living together went. Which was good, because Justin had been having no luck finding a job. He kept looking though, he didn't want to feel like a moocher. And time was dragging on.

Nick assured him that he could take all the time he needed. He actually really liked having him around. It was kind of nice to have somebody to come home to.

Living with Nick was so much easier than living with Kevin was. In a lot of ways it was even easier than living with Chris had been.

They would get on each others nerves occasionally, but that was usually just when they needed space. Justin was almost always at home because he didn't have a job and he barely knew anybody in this city. Nick was almost always at home because.. Well, Justin actually didn't know the answer to that.

Nick had a job, he had to, to afford such a nice apartment on his own. But he went to work at strange and irregular hours. Often when he left for work he would be back just a few hours later.

Justin was intrigued to say the least. But the few times that Justin had asked him what he did for work Nick would be really vague and change the subject shortly after. Eventually he learned to just stop asking. While he was still curious, he figured it was probably none of his business. Nick had been nice enough to let Justin live with him, he didn't deserve to be interrogated.

Nick and Justin were having microwavable mac and cheese for dinner in front of the TV. Neither of them liked to cook much so luckily their freezer was stocked with plenty of 'lazy day' meals.

"Hey! You have your own you know" Justin protested as Nick reached a fork over into his bowl.

"I know, but yours is better" Nick smirked, stealing a piece of macaroni.

"You're like an annoying little brother sometimes" Justin commented.

"Am not" Nick said with a straight face as he stole another piece of macaroni from Justin's bowl.

"Hey!".

Nick laughed as Justin moved to the other side of the couch. Justin couldn't help but giggle too.

Justin's phone went off in his pocket and he pulled it out. His face became more serious as he opened the message.

"What is it? Nick asked when he noticed Justin's face.

Justin sighed "It's this guy, Lance".

"Lance? Was he the virgin from the party you told me about?" Nick asked interestedly.

Nick knew about the way that Justin was with men. He had told Justin when he first moved in that he was allowed to bring guys home if he wanted, just preferably with a little warning. He was pretty laid back like that.

Yet weirdly, Justin hadn't brought a single guy home whole time that he had been there. He just hadn't felt the urge to go out and pick up. He didn't feel lonely. Not the way that he had when he was around Chris. It was nice to finally have a true friend in this city.

"Yup, that's him" Justin's eyes were sad.

"Weren't you not talking to him?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't.. I'm not.." Justin said softly while re reading the message. He handed the phone to Nick for him to read.

'Hey Justin. I'm really sorry that I keep contacting you. I hope that I didn't do something to upset you. Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry for being annoying and let you know that I'm going to leave you alone. Sorry.

From Lance'

"What he needs is some self esteem" Nick commented.

"It's so sad, he sees it as being his fault. Why am I such a fucking dick?!".

Nick didn't know how to respond to this.

"You're not a dick.. Though, it would be better if you could be upfront with these guys" he finally said.

"I know" mumbled Justin.

"It kind of seems like maybe you don't know what you want" Nick speculated.

There was a brief silence.

"Maybe.." Justin said uncertainly.

He paused then added "It's Chris's fault anyway. He gave me these stupid ideas in the first place"

Nick blinked "what ideas?" He puzzled.

"It's so stupid"

Nick waited for him to elaborate.

"It's just.." He hesitated. "Chris kept going on about what a great guy Lance was and like, how I should give him a chance.. Because I don't give anybody a chance. He kept saying how he seemed like the kind of guy that I should date, that he was like the opposite of Kevin".

"Do you want to date Lance?" Nick asked.

"No!" Justin said reflexively. ".. I don't know anymore" he mumbled.

Nick moved closer and handed Justin his phone back.

"Why don't you text him?" He suggested.

"No.. I probably shouldn't" Justin replied softly

"Why though? This guy really liked you, he might be happy for you to message him" Nick prodded.

"I don't want to because I don't even understand my feelings. I didn't want to date him at all. Then as soon as I know that it's too late and that's not an option anymore, I feel sad over him?" Justin said confusedly.

He elaboated "Then I even started to wonder about what it would be like to be with a guy like Lance. It's like as soon as an actual possibility of being with somebody is removed I can safely like a guy". He leaned back and groaned "Ugh, Kevin fucked me up".

Nick put his arm around Justin "You'll figure it out" Nick said sympathetically. He knew how hard it was to not understand your feelings.

 

* * *

 

 

 

"What's that?" Justin asked childishly, poking Nick in the neck as he walked around him.

Nick was sitting at the kitchen table, texting somebody.

"Nothing really" Nick replied as he put his phone face down.

"What were you planning on doing today?" Nick looked up at Justin who was pouring a glass of apple juice.

"I might call some more places, see if they're hiring. Maybe clean up the apartment a bit" Justin replied.

"Haven't you already called almost every business in this city? Nick joked.

Nick was right. But Justin was determined to keep trying.

"Well somewhere has to want me eventually. A few of them have said that they would take my resume for when they were hiring" Justin responded.

Nick's phone beeped again and he read the message. Then he abruptly got up from his chair and went to leave the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Asked Justin as he furrowed his brow.

"Work" Nick called from the other room.

Justin leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping his apple juice. He watched Nick throw on his black coat and neaten his hair with his fingers. Then he hurried out.

"Back soon" Nick informed as he closed the door.

After he finished his juice, Justin began to tidy up the apartment. It wasn't a terrible mess, but both of them were the type to forget to put little things away.

He kept thinking about Nick. He was so suspicious sometimes.

Justin had even started to wonder if Nick had a girlfriend that he wasn't telling him about. He had no idea why Nick wouldn't want to tell him though.

In some ways, Nick was still a bit of a mystery to him. He was the type of guy who would tell a total stranger on the bus about his issues with his mother in detail. The type of guy who was so warm and open that you almost immediately feel like his best friend. However, he was also the type of guy who wouldn't even tell him where he worked. This confused Justin, but he figured maybe Nick just likes to be private about some things. That or he was doing something illegal.

The girlfriend theory started because Nick seemed to have a lot of phone calls that he is quite secretive about. When he says he's calling Aaron, he will lock himself in his room and ask Justin to turn up the music or the TV in the other room. He said it was a quirk of his, that he hates other people listening to him on the phone. Even if he's just talking about normal stuff.

However, the few times that Justin had heard littles bits of his conversation, it definitely didn't seem like how you talk to your brother. It seemed like the sweet, almost flirty tone that you would speak to your partner in.

Actually, he might even have a boyfriend instead. When Justin had asked him about his sexuality Nick simply said "Ehhhhh" and offered a wobbly non committal hand gesture. That response made Justin laugh a bit. However, Nick said that had only been with women before.

He wanted to respect Nick's privacy, but it didn't feel right knowing that he was being lied to.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Justin guess what?!" Nick exclaimed, bursting through the door.

"What?"

"I got you a job!" He beamed.

Justin gasped then a smile spread over his face "What?! How?". He rushed over to Nick.

"I ran into AJ, my friend from when I was a kid. I hadn't seen him since our mums forced us to do ballet lessons. We were in the same class".

Justin smirked at the idea of Nick leaping around gracefully in tights. Somehow, he could see him doing it well though.

"I got to telling him about you and how you'd been having such a hard time finding a job. Then he told me that he's actually a team leader at this sales company Danoz Direct. They sell the type of stuff that you see in infomercials except they set up stalls in shopping centers and go door to door and stuff" Nick explained.

"Wow! And he can get me a job there?!" Justin asked excitedly.

"Yeah, he said he'd talk to his manager about it, then he'd contact me with when they want you to come in for a trial. It's pretty much a done deal".

"Nick! This is amazing thank you so much!" Justin flung his arms around Nick and Nick hugged him back tightly. He didn't let go for quite a while. "Justin the salesman" he mumbled into Nick's shoulder accomplishedly. Nick smiled at this.

"Wow, ok" Justin exhaled as they released each other. "What would I even have to wear?".

"He said to wear black pants or jeans. They'll give you a T-shirt too".

"Too easy" Justin smiled.

 

* * *

 

 

It was the first day of his trial and Justin was waiting around the corner until it was time to go inside. nick had helped him figure out the buses so that he would arrive early. 

Eventually it was time for him to go in.

Justin's knee's felt a little trembly as he walked up the stairs. He was usually pretty confident, but there was so much riding on this. He had to make a good impression.

"Hello, my name's Justin, I am meant to have a trial today with AJ?" He said to the receptionist.

"Mr. Timberlake?"

"Yes".

" Ok, take a seat over there and he will be with you shortly" she gestured over to a small bench with a TV next to it.

He sat down and nervously awaited his meeting with AJ. He had to keep reminding himself to sit up straight.

A man with short bleach blonde hair and tattoos covering his arms emerged from the hallway. He was wearing a T-shirt that said 'Nicer Dicer Pro' on it and a lanyard with a name card around his neck.

"Justin Timberlake?"

Justin hesitated "..AJ?".

When Nick had said "team leader" and "used to do ballet" this man was not image that he conjured.

"That's right" he said confidently as he stretched his hand out to shake Justin's.

"Nice to meet you, thank you so much for this opportunity, really. You won't regret it" Justin said eagerly as he shook his hand.

AJ laughed slightly "That's alright, helping you out is helping Nick out. Anyway, come on in" he led Justin down the hall to a small room. He shut the door behind them.

"So, Justin, I just have to ask you a few questions"

"Sure" He smiled the way that somebody would at a job interview.

"Have you worked in sales before?"

"Actually I haven't, my background is in retail, but from time to time when we had promotions in store I would assist with that. I'm a fast learner though, and I'm a pretty outgoing person when I want to be. I know I could be good at this if given the chance".

"Hey, hey, you don't have convince me" AJ grinned. "There's no need to be formal about it. My manager already said that I could give you a trial. I'm just asking this stuff so we know how much we have to train you".

"Oh" Justin said embarrassedly. He was very releived to be told this though.

"It doesn't really matter if you haven't worked in sales before, we hire a lot of people who haven't. We give you full training".

"That's great" Justin smiled, a less fake smile than before.

"Would you feel comfortable approaching strangers?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, it's not something that I have an issue with" he answered.

"Great, that'll help you a lot. So, I'm assuming that Nick already told you about what the job involves?"

"Yeah, we're selling infomercial products at stalls in shopping centers right?" Justin confirmed.

"That's right, but we have a team that does door to door sales too" AJ explained. "So, Justin, do you know much about objection handling?".

"No.. What's that?" Justin asked curiously.

"I'm glad you asked AJ grinned as he jumped up from his chair and over to a whiteboard.

He enthusiastically wrote objection handling in big letters at the top of the board and drew up a diagram.

Acknowledge - Probe - Answer - Close

"Ok, objection handling is the most important skill to a salesman" He put his hand next to his mouth like he was about to whisper a secret "and by the way, you're going to deal with objection and rejection a LOT" explained AJ.

Justin giggled.

"So, you might be trying to sell a customer the nicer dicer pro, for example. They tell you that they can't afford it, what do you do?"

"Uh..try somebody else?" Justin answered hesitantly.

"No" AJ slapped his hand on the white board. This startled Justin. "We 'Acknowledge, Probe, Answer, then Close'. Here, stand up, I'll show you".

He got up from his chair and walked over to AJ.

"Ok, I'm going to try to convince you to come to a party and you're going to tell me that you can't come, alright?"

"Sure".

AJ leaned back cooly against his desk, almost as if he was trying to get into character "So, Justin, Ronald is having a party, you wanna go?".

"No, I don't want to" Justin tried to hold back laughter, he felt a bit silly. It made AJ smile.

"Why's that?"

"Uh.. I.." Justin stuttered.

"Just make something up" AJ instructed him.

"I've got homework that I have to finish".

" Ah, I totally understand, I've had tons of homework too. It gets pretty stressful around exam time huh?"

Justin nodded.

"I've 'Acknowledged' the objection" he pointed out as he gestured back to the board. "Now I would 'Probe' to better understand the objection. This is also where you can build rapport and make them feel less like you're just trying to sell them something".

"Ok".

"So, what subject is the homework about?"

"It's uh, a business assignment"

"Ah business, my best friend is an accountant. I was never much good at that stuff though. Do you like it?".

"It's ok".

" Yeah..So hey, when do you need it due by?"

"Uh.. Wednesday".

"Ok, now I 'Answer' and attempt to find solutions to the objection" AJ explained.

"I get that it is important to prioritize homework but I feel like going to the party could actually help you. It can be so hard to get the motivation to study" he gave Justin a light nudge and a charming smile "Beleive me, I know".

Justin nodded.

"But, you could use the party as motivation! Because if you finished your homework before the party you could come. Besides, that removes any temptation to leave it until the last minute. You deserve a to de stress and have fun after your hard work".

He gestured to the board again. "Now I close the deal, by assuming that you have already said yes" AJ informed.

"So, Toya is giving me a lift there, we could pick you up around 5?" AJ nodded while he was saying this, almost like he was trying to influence Justin.

"Ok sure".

" Great!" AJ exclaimed and he stopped leaning on the desk. "It might have been a little confusing, but do you get where I was going with that?" He asked.

"Yeah, I get it".  

"Awesome. I might spend the rest of the day going over the training manual with you and familiarizing you with the products that you'll be selling. And tommorrow I'll buddy you up with of our top salesman so you can learn on the job".

" Great" Justin smiled. He knew he was going to do just fine.


	9. Chapter 9

Nick arrived home just a little after Justin did. Justin bounced over to the door to open it as soon as he heard Nick approaching. He was still brimming with excitement from how well his first day had went.

"Nick! How are you going?" Justin asked enthusiastically.

"I'm ok" Nick said with a tired smile. "What about you? How'd you go with AJ?".

"It went great! AJ's awesome! He's waay cooler than my last boss. It almost feels like we could be friends!" Justin beamed.

"I'm really glad Justin. I really want to know about how you went, but I just have to call Aaron first ok? I told him I'd call him around 6." Nick explained as he took off his coat.

"Ok, sure" Justin said a little dissapointedly.

"Could you uh, turn the TV up?" Nick asked awkwardly.

"Yeah" Justin went over to the couch and picked up the remote.

Nick simply gave him a thumbs up and turned to walk to his room.

Justin watched him walk away and observed the slumping of his shoulders. He had noticed that Nick rarely looked happy when he said that he was going to call Aaron. More so.. Just kind of tired.

Justin flicked through the channels but there was nothing much of interest. To tried to choose between some romantic comedy or a game show.

He went with the romantic comedy but it just reminded him of Lance. The fact that it did made him uncomfortable and he changed the channel.

Lance was irrelevant, Lance was just some fun for a night, why was he so hard to forget? Any chance he had with him was clearly over anyway.

Justin got up to get himself a glass of water. He decided to go pee while he was up and walked towards the bathroom. However, he overheard something that made him stop as he walked past Nick's room.

"You like that baby?..mm..Are you you touching yourself for me?..".

Justin froze.

"I love how big and hard you're cock gets when I talk to you like this..What do you want me to do baby?..mm.. Tim, you know that nobody gets me as hard as you do".

Justin blushed furiously and forgot entirely about going to the bathroom. He sneaked back to the couch and didn't move from his spot.

He stared blankly at the TV, his tv show ended and a new show began without him even noticing.

Then eventually, Nick exited his room.

"Sorry about that, anyway tell me about work" Nick said casually. He sat down next to Justin.

"Oh right, work.." Justin felt kind of jittery. He wondered if could tell. "Yeah, it was good".

Nick stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. However, the shock of what just happened sort of had wiped that information away. All Justin could think about was Nick. And Tim. And the image of what Nick would have been doing to himself, and how he actually sounded kind of sexy. Justin started blushing again. But he also felt like a horrible friend for violating his privacy like that.

" I'm actually not feeling very well, could I maybe tell you about it another time?" Justin said flusteredly.

"That's ok, now that you mention it, you do look a little red. Do you need anything? I could make you some soup? Well.. I could put some instant soup mix in a mug and pour boiling water over it" Nick offered.

"..Actually that would be really nice" Justin said hesitantly. A mug of something warm and comforting wasn't a bad idea.

"I'll be back in a moment, maybe you should lie down and get some rest" Nick said sweetly as he jumped up from the couch.

Justin stretched out and pulled his blanket over him. Nick was so kind to him, he didn't know where he would be if he hadn't taken him in. It almost frightened Justin to realize how easily they could have never met. Since living with Nick, Justin didn't feel like he was lost and aimlessly floating through this city. He was like an anchor that kept him grounded.

"Here you better appreciate it, I didn't slave over a hot kettle for nothing" Nick joked.

"Thank you Nick" Justin smiled as he took the mug, trying to not look at his friend any differently.

"That's ok, hope you're feeling better" Nick ruffled Justin's hair and let his hand slide down to Justin's cheek. It lingered there for a moment before he turned around and walked back to his room.


	10. Chapter 10

Justin wondered about Nick for most of the bus ride to work. It just seemed so strange. Who was Tim? Why was Nick not telling him about him? If it was a once off deal Justin would get it. But it wasn't. He must be his boyfriend. Why would you have phone sex so often with somebody you aren't dating? But if he was his boyfriend, why wouldn't he tell him about it? He thought they were friends..

"Hey Justin!" AJ grinned as Justin walked in the door. "Come in here, there's somebody that I'd like you to meet".

"Ok, sure" Justin said enthusiastically, hurrying over. "Is this th-".

Justin froze where he stood.

"Justin, this is the superstar of my sales team, Lance. You'll be learning from the best, Lance could sell dirt to worms" AJ said confidently.

Lance's face mirrored the shock of Justin's.

"Hey Justin. Lance said formally.

"Uh, hey" Justin could barely make eye contact. He instinctively fixed his hair with his hands.

AJ furrowed his brow as he watched them both.

Then he continued "Lance is gonna take you to Waterton Street Mall set up a stall. You know where that right?".

" Yeah, uh, it's just down the road from here right?" Justin cautiously looked up at Lance.

"That's right. Here, catch" AJ threw Justin a Nicer Dicer pro T-shirt that matched his. "Just throw that on then you two can get going".

Justin had generally felt pretty confident about his body, but he felt so exposed having to take his shirt off in that moment.

Lance averted his gaze.

"Ok, let's get this over with, shall we?" Lance said as he walked out the door.

Justin found his tone hard to interpret. He couldn't tell if he was making fun of how awkward this was going to be or just being cold. Maybe it was a bit of both.

"Ok" Said Justin, clumsily following him.

The walk to Waterton Street Mall was uncomfortable to say the least. The only time they spoke to each other was when Justin offered to help carry the fold out table that Lance was holding.

They arrived at the spot AJ had told them was reserved for them. Lance began setting up the table.

"Justin, would you help me with this table cloth?".

" Uh, sure" He said as he was handed two corners of the fabric.

They laid it out over the table then Lance pulled out a folder that was full of pamphlets and promotional material. He placed them strategically around the display.

Then he arranged the food items that they were going to have in the demo.

Justin stood around awkwardly, not knowing how to be useful. "You want any help with that?" He asked.

"No, you wouldn't know where stuff's meant to go anyway" Lance said busily. Then he stopped and looked up at Justin "Actually, it'd be a big help if you would set up the nicer dicer pro. AJ showed you how to do that right?".

" yeah, I could do that" Justin said nervously. It was like he was more nervous than Lance, which was different.

He set it up quite easily then waited for Lance's instruction.

"Well" Lance said as he walked around to the front of the display. "Looks like we're set up. So, Justin, AJ told me that you've never worked in sales before?"

"That's right". Justin didn't get how Lance could act so professional. It was almost like nothing had happened between them.

But the memory wasn't as distant for Justin. His mind wandered to what Lance had looked like, naked, lying on his bed. It made him blush, not too obviously he hoped.

"Then I'll take the first customer. Watch what I do" Lance instructed. He stepped forward and the entire way that he held his body changed. He stood up straight and confident with a winning smile and a wide legged stance.

It was like Justin was looking at a different man.

He pointed at a woman approaching who was wearing a band T-shirt and had arms full of groceries. "Motley Crue?! They're my favourite band!" He exclaimed excitedly. She looked down at her T-shirt and giggled slightly. "Come on, give me 5" He coaxed and he held his hand up expectantly, waiting for her to slap it.

She stopped in front of Lance "I can't, I'm holding groceries" she laughed.

"Oh, my bad" He laughed charmingly. "I'm Lance anyway, what's your name?".

" Stacy".

"Oh wow, that's my sister's name. So, I will say, that's a lot of groceries that you're carrying? Have you got kids at home?" He questioned.

"Oh, no, I'm having the extended family over for a dinner party".

" A dinner party? Wow that's pretty fun, I'm sure it's a lot of effort though right?" He replied.

" yup, there's a lot to prepare. I'll get it done somehow though. Somehow" she laughed.

Lance chuckled with her even though it wasn't funny. "Hey, quick question, have you heard of the Nicer Dicer pro? You might have seen the commercials on tv." He asked.

"Uh..no.." She answered hesitantly.

"I'll show you, come over here, trust me, it'll only be a minute" He said and confidently led her over to the display.

Justin watched in awe as Lance charismatically demonstrated the product. He was like an expert on the Nicer Dicer pro. He found a way to keep making jokes while she showed her how it worked, Lance and Stacy were practically friends by the time he was finished.

It was so bizarre watching shy Lance be this confident. He kept waiting for him to stutter or apologize but he didn't.

"So, as you could tell, this dicer would make preparing for that dinner party much more simple, wouldn't it?" Justin noticed that as Lance was saying this he was nodding, trying to get her to mirror him. The way that AJ had with him.

She nodded. "Yeah, it would actually".

" Fantastic! I'll just grab it for you then, would you like to pay by cash or credit?" He asked presumptuously.

"Uh.." She hesitated. "..credit".

Lance got Justin to put through her order and she walked away smiling, with a new nicer nicer dicer pro to add to her many shopping bags.

Justin was slightly shocked at just how manipulative sales could be. And just how good at it Lance was.

"That was amazing" Justin said, wide eyed as Lance stood next to him at the table.

"Thanks" He smiled a more familiar shy smile. "It's mostly practice though, you'll get the hang of it" he added.

"I hope so.. Hey, is Motley Crue actually your favourite band?" Justin asked curiously.

"No, I don't even know any of their songs" he laughed. Justin laughed too.

Justin started to feel a little bit more relaxed around him. Maybe.

"What if she had asked you about them?" He questioned.

"I don't know, I'll deal with that hurdle when I come to it. What will determine whether or not you make sales is how good you are at getting people to stop and talk to you. Probably more so than how good of a salesman you are" He explained.

"Really? That doesn't seem too hard".

"You'd be surprised. People don't like to feel like you're trying to sell them something. That's why it's good to start off by commenting on their clothes, or asking them a totally random question like 'What's your favourite animal?'. Whatever get's them to stop and pay attention".

"I'd be good at that" smiled Justin. He was trying to regain some of the confidence that he had in the idea of 'Justin the salesman'. The confidence that he had before he knew he would be working with Lance. He needed this job. He'd lost his last job because of avoiding Lance, he wasn't going to lose this opportunity.

"Would you like to practice your sales pitch on me? Run me through the demo" Suggested Lance.

"Ok, but prepare to be amazed. I hope you're ok with having a little competition" he joked.

"We'll see" Lance said with a straight face and narrowed eyes. Then he laughed.

They practiced until Justin was confident enough to approach somebody.

The first few people that he went up to simply waved him away with a polite hand gesture. Or muttered "not interested" and kept walking. Justin wasn't going to give up though.

"You'll get that a lot" Lance reassured him. "Just keep it up and keep smiling. If your body language looks neative people won't want to talk to you".

Justin attempted to imitate the way that Lance had held himself and approached a young lady.

He got her to stop. First step accomplished. He made some small tall about her shoes then coaxed her over to the display. It was going well.. Until Justin forgot his sales pitch.

" it has four great attachments".

"Five attachments" Lance interuppted.

"Oh uh" Justin laughed uncomfortably. "Five, sorry. And it has a blade for dicing, a grater, a.." Justin blanked.

The lady waited expectantly.

"I'll just take over here" Lance smiled charmingly. "I'm Lance, what's your name?" He asked as he went to shake her hand.

"Taylor".

" Lovely to meet you Taylor. Justin's new here, you're actually the first person he's showed the Nicer dicer pro to. He's doing well isn't he?".

"Ohh yes, he is" she said encouragingly. She turned to Justin with sympathetic eyes "Don't worry hun, it'll get easier, starting any new job is difficult".

" Thank you" Justin smiled.

Lance went through the rest of the demo with her as Justin watched. Amazingly, he managed to get her to walk away with a new nicer dicer pro too.

"Just a tip that AJ taught me when I started out, don't hesitate to say that you're new if you mess up." Lance instructed. "Even if you're not new" he laughed. "It makes people want to be patient with you".

"Anyway, how about you pitch five more people then we'll have lunch?" Lance suggested while looking at his watch.

"Ok" Justin said weakly as he walked back to the front of the display. He wasn't feeling as confident as he had been. His stomach was doing somersaults in anticipation. In a way, having lunch just the two of them seemed almost like a date. At least, it was a similar level of awkward.

"Stand up straight" Lance instructed.

Justin sighed then put a happy face on and approached a person who was walking over.

Justin was quite good at getting people to stop, at least Lance said so. But, maybe he was just trying to build up his confidence since he was his trainer. However, none of the people that he showed the demo to were interested in buying. They each had an excuse that no amount of 'objection handling' was going to budge.

By the time that Lance said that they could go to lunch Justin was feeling frustrated and dissapointed in himself.

"Do you have to buy lunch? I could get you something, a reward for getting through your first day.. Well, half of it anyway" Lance asked as they grabbed their bags.

"That's ok, I brought something with me.. Thank you though" Justin replied with a smile. They walked towards the food court.

"That's ok, I'm your trainer, it's my job to keep you motivated and cheery and stuff" Lance looked down.

It surprised Justin just how quickly Lance's confidence dissapeared when he wasn't in work mode.

"Well I have to buy something at sumo salad. How about you get us a table and I'll meet you there" Lance suggested.

"Ok" Justin gave a tired thumbs up and wandered off to find a table. The food court was very crowded and it was more difficult to find somewhere to sit than he would have guessed.

He managed to find a tiny two person table where they would have to sit face to face. It was pretty much the opposite of a situation that he would want to be in with a guy he'd slept with.

Justin pulled out a peanut butter sandwich that was messily wrapped in cling film. He waved over to Lance when he saw him walk back from the counter.

He noticed the way that Lance seemed to avoid eye contact he sat down. This continued as he mostly just looked at his salad or he stared off while they ate.

"I wish I was as good as you" Justin broke the silence.

"Oh.. Uh.. What?" Lance said confusedly.

"At sales" Justin clarified.

"Oh" Lance laughed uncomfortably then he looked up at Justin "You'll get there, don't worry".

"I'd like to beleive that, but I haven't made a single sale" He said, resting his chin in his hand.

"When I started off I didn't make any for a week. But AJ kept encouraging me and eventually I got it" Lance comforted.

"Got what?" Justin asked curiously.

Lance shrugged "How to put on a face, I guess.." he said timidly.

Justin smiled slightly and nodded.

This was followed by a silence.

Justin chewed away at his bland sandwich. He tried not to stare at Lance eating, his body language made it very obvious that it made him uncomfortable. But Justin was so.. Intrigued. Intrigued by him in general. He was so different to himself or anybody who he had known before. It was so interesting that shy Lance who he met at the party had this other side to him. He wished he could get him to talk more.

"Hey Lance..".

"Yeah?".

" If you're so good at knowing how to act confident, why don't you just do that outside of work too? Not that there's anything wrong with it just..I don't get it".

Lance looked down and played with his fork breifly. "I guess they're two very different things. At work I have a pitch memorized, I know exactly what is expected of me. I'm not really putting myself out there, I'm putting the nicer dicer pro out there" he explained.

"That makes sense" Justin agreed.

"I'm still really nervous in a lot of social situations, that's just a situation that I have rehearsed enough am able to play it however I want. Besides, it'd feel a bit manipulative to act that dishonestly when I'm not at work" he elaborated.

"Yeah, I'm still coming to terms with the manipulative side of it" Justin replied.

"We're about as manipulative as advertisements really" Lance said blankly as he finished his lunch and stood up to put it in the bin.

Justin couldn't tell if he was right or if he was just so used to it that he wasn't able to feel guilt about it.

They returned to work and Justin kept trying. He watched jealously as Lance effortlessly made 5 sales. He tried to copy him but to no avail.

The work day ended without Justin making a single sale of his own. Though, there was the sale that they had made together. Lance said that he would put it down under Justin's name. Not that Justin felt like he deserved it.

Lance looked at his watch "Looks like you're free to go Justin" he informed him.

"What? Really?" Justin tried not to seem too happy, but he was so glad it was over. His cheeks hurt from faking a smile. His back ached from standing. He wanted to go home and tell Nick all about Lance. He was done.

"Yeah, have a good day Justin. I'll see you" Lance said politely as he packed away the display and folded the table and picked it up. 

"You want some help getting that back to the main office?" Justin offered. He was watching Lance struggle to carry the table, the folder, and the nicer dicer pro.

"That's ok, don't worry ab-".

The folder fell out from under Lance's arm and pamphlets slid out everywhere.

Justin laughed as he knealt down to pick them up. Lance felt embarrassed.

"I'll help carry some stuff, it's no trouble" Justin insisted, taking the Nicer Dicer pro from Lance's arms.

"Thank you" Lance mumbled. He was trying to avoid any non-work time with Justin that he could. Lunch hadn't been as nerve wracking as he had expected, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either.

They walked in silence.

"Hey Lance.." Justin said nervously.

"Yeah?".

" I just wanted to say.. About how I didn't return your text messages.. I'm sor-".

"You don't have to do this Justin" Lance interrupted. "I get it. You just wanted somebody to hook up with at the party, nothing more. You don't have to worry, I'm not going to get clingy and obsessed you just because you were the first guy to do that to me. I'm sorry that I made it seem like that, I was just being stupid and obviously misinterpreting you".

" Lance I di-"

"Look Justin, seeing as we have to work together, this situation would be a lot less humiliating for me if you just pretend that what we did never happened, ok?".

Lance's heart was racing but he was glad that he got that out.

Justin looked down shamefully. "Ok sure.. Sorry for bringing it up" he said quietly.

"That's ok" Lance replied.

The rest of the walk to the main office was silent and uncomfortable.

They returned the equipment to AJ, then parted ways. Then, similarly to before, Justin got the bus instead of the train home, to avoid Lance.


	11. Chapter 11

Justin was dissapointed to arrive home to an empty house. Nick had said earlier that he was staying at a friends house that night but Justin had forgotten until then. He sat down on the couch and Steve the dog rushed over. Justin let him join him on the couch because Nick wasn't home to tell him not to.

He watched TV until he felt tired enough to sleep. It was weird having something so dramatic happen and not being able to come home to Nick and tell him every detail. Justin kind of felt apprehensive about going to work without having somebody elses opinion on the situation. But Nick was the only friend he had and he didn't feel like he could call him. Nick didn't go to see other friends very often and Justin didn't want to annoy him.

Justin felt a little bit sad as Steve left to go sleep in Nick's room. He turned the TV off and pulled his blankets over himself. He tried to sleep but Lance's words echoed.

"I get it. You just wanted somebody to hook up with at the party, nothing more".

" I was just being stupid and obviously misinterpreting you".

"This situation would be a lot less humiliating for me if you just pretend that what we did never happened, ok?".

Was this really the type of person he had become? Somebody who uses people? Somebody who makes guys like Lance feel stupid and humiliated?

"I'm just as bad as Kevin" Justin muttered. He knew that this wasn't true, but he was feeling pretty down on himself.

Lance was so beautiful, and the more that Justin found out about him, the more fascinating he seemed. He didn't know if he would be able to act like what they did never happened. Not when kind of wished that they could again.

What was happening to him? He would never usually want a second time. But there was something about Lance. He seemed.. Different.

Justin tossed and turned. He wasn't getting to sleep. He felt the loneliest he had felt the entire time that he'd lived with Nick. He snuggled up into a ball, his blankets didn't feel warm enough. Then he ran his fingertips along his hand. He found himself remembering what it felt like to fall asleep with Kevin's fingers intertwined with his. To feel his warmth lying beside him, reminding him that it was going to be ok. Reminding him that he was loved.

He missed the times that seem insignificant while you're dating but when they are gone are what you remember. Like eating pizza in bed with him, or the TV shows that they had jokes about, or that time they went and played laser tag just because they got a voucher for it in the mail, or being naked for no reason because they lived together and it didn't matter.

Those were the bits that were the most painful to remember. It was more simple to just remember Kevin as the bad person that he was. Instead of Kevin the bad person who at times, when he felt like it, made Justin feel so lucky.

But it wasn't Kevin that he missed. He missed how happy he felt in those moments. Justin hadn't admitted it to himself until then, but he missed being in love, and that terrified him. He didn't know how he could put himself out there again. The idea of it frightened him too much. It seemed too risky. He had trouble convincing himself that it was worth it.

Sex was easy, sex was simple, however, it didn't give him any of those little moments. It just gave him the warmth of another's arms, and the excitement of knowing a stranger so intimately. But as much as Justin wanted it to be, it just wasn't enough for him anymore.

He wondered if he would ever get over his anxiety about relationships if he didn't just make himself date somebody. Maybe it was time to be brave. It would have to be better than feeling this lonely.

It couldn't just be anybody though. He knew better than to just fall for the first man to say 'I love you' like he had with Kevin. They would have to be caring, gentle and patient with him.. Justin hated himself as he realised that this was everything that Lance seemed to be before he fucked it up.

He felt awful as he remembered how he had made fun of how Lance texted him, offering to come over and take care of him when he lied about having a stomach ache.

He felt even worse when he remembered how despite how he had ignored him, Lance was still civil and nice to him. He still put the effort into training him well, even though he would have been so uncomfortable. Somebody else in that situation might have just told AJ to get rid of him, but not Lance. Even though that's what Justin felt like he deserved.

Then finally, as the sun was rising, he managed to get to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

"Justin, you have a rough night?" AJ asked concernedly as Justin walked into his office for the morning breif.

"I just didn't sleep very well, it's fine" he replied, trying to avoid looking at Lance, the reason for his lack of sleep.

"That's no good, roommate keeping you up?" AJ smirked.

"Something like that" Justin said unconvincingly.

Lance breifly looked over at the greyness under Justin's eye's, then quickly turned his focus back to AJ.

AJ informed them that they would be going to a suburb called harsville. It has a grocery store that will allow them to set up a Nicer Dicer pro display out the front.

It was quite a lot further than their their previous location so they had to get the bus.

On the way there Justin found it difficult to focus on Lance's small talk. He was so tired and had so much that he wanted to say. He couldn't just leave things as they were, but he wasn't actually sure where he wanted things to be.

That day Justin kept staring at Lance. Luckily he could blame it on being tired. Or he could just say that he was watching him, to learn how to be a good salesman.

He felt charmed by each of Lance's little mannerisms. The way that he moved, the way that he smiled, even the over the top fake laugh that he gave any customer who made a joke. It was so incredibly cute.

It amazed Justin that he hadn't even had a boyfriend before. Somebody would have to be stupid to pass up a guy like that. And Justin felt very stupid.

Though, it was weirding him out just how sudden these feelings were. It was like after he admitted to himself that he missed feeling that way about somebody.. Well, there Lance was. But a part of him knew that it wasn't really that sudden. Really he had been trying not to let himself feel it since he met Lance.

"Hey Justin is something wrong?" Lance turned to ask as his latest customer walked away with a Nicer Dicer pro.

"Oh.. Sorry, yeah, I'm fine".

"You just seem.. I don't know.. Distracted" Lance commented.

"Yeah, sorry, like i said, I'm really tired today. I'll try harder though" Justin attempted to stand up straighter.

Lance gave him a sympathetic smile "Look, how about we go for lunch".

" I don't know.." Justin said hesitantly. He was worried that if he and Lance were without the distraction of work then it might become obvious that Lance was the reason for Justin acting this way. Though, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. A part of him was done with being a coward. Done with preventing his own happiness.

Maybe this could be his opportunity to really talk to him.

"Oh come on, you'll feel better. I know a really nice cafe around here," Lance said presumptuously as he picked up his stuff and handed Justin his backpack. "At least let me get you a coffee".

".. Ok" Justin agreed nervously.

Lance led Justin to an adorable little cafe that was decorated with antique style objects like dolls, cat ornaments and an old bicycle.

"This is my favourite place to go when we have to do sales out this way" Lance explained as they approached the counter.

"Wow.. I didn't know you were actually an old lady" Justin teased gazing around at the decorations.

"Hey, keep that up and I won't get you anything" Lance replied, a little embarrassed. "What do you want to get, anyway?".

" Um.. What are you going to get?" Justin asked, worried about picking something too expensive.

" I was probably just going to get the iced coffee frappe and a bagel".

"I'll get the iced coffee frappe too then" Justin decided.

Lance ordered for them and they both went to sit down at a table outside.

"Thanks for getting that for me, it was really nice of you" Justin smiled.

"That's ok, hopefully it might help you" Lance said maternally.

Somehow again, they were at a tiny table facing each other. Whenever they made eye contact it was almost like uncomfortable, forced intimacy. So they had mostly avoided looking at each other.

Justin couldn't take the awkwardness between them anymore.

"Hey Lance.."

"Yeah?".

Then he had to practically force out " About what you said yesterday.. About what happened between us..".

He watched Lance fold his arms. He didn't notice the way that Lance trembled.

"What about it?" Lance asked sternly, his heart raced.

" Well.. Uh.." Justin hesitated. "You know, don't worry, forget I mentioned it" he stammered and quickly started folding his napkin so that he had something to do with his hands.

"Oh.. Ok then" Lance looked down, almost looking a bit sad.

"So, have you been sent out here many times?" Justin asked in an attempt to make conversation.

"A few times, mostly we work around the city. I like going out to the suburbs though, it feels like a little adventure" Lance answered politely.

"Two iced coffee frappes and a bagel with cream cheese!" The youthful waitress announced, approaching the table.

They both thanked her as she put their order on the table.

"This is really good" commented Justin, sipping through his straw.

"Yeah, they make them well here.." Lance replied absently.

This was followed by a silence.

Justin stared off at the people who walked past, the suburb of harsville was full of families. Mothers and fathers with children seemed to walk by a lot. And people walking their dogs, which all looked oddly similar to each other.

"Hey Justin, what was it that you were going to say before?.." Lance asked delicately.

"Uh I don't know um.." Justin laughed uncomfortably and moved in his seat. That was a good question.

"I'm sorry to ask, it's just.. I keep wondering" Lance added.

"That's ok.." Justin replied timidly.

He felt pinned down with the weight of Lance's expectant gaze on him. But he wanted to be strong. But he also wanted to run away and not have to answer Lance's question. 

But somehow he decided to be brave. He wanted to do what he wanted, without the impact of Kevin controlling his choices.

"Well, I guess I wanted to say that I'm really sorry that I didn't return your texts, you deserved better than that. I was a jerk. But secondly-" Justin took a deep breath and looked Lance directly in the eyes. "I just want to know if I completely messed things up because I really like you and I would love it if you gave me another chance".

" Wow.. Uh.." Lance blushed bright red and fumbled at his hair. "I don't know what to say.." A small smile spread over his face.

Justin liked this reaction.

"I guess I'd kind of need to know why you didn't return my texts. Like, was it because I was annoying you or-".

" No, no! That wasn't it. There was nothing wrong with you Lance" Justin reassured.

"I'm just.. Fucked up." Justin got quieter "I dated this guy who kind of made me a bit weird about relationships and guys in general. I don't want to just be making excuses, but the truth is it he hurt me a lot. But I want to get over it, I want to be able to be happy like everybody else. And I would regret it so much if I didn't at least see if maybe you might still want me." he explained.

"I appreciate you being so honest" Lance said, looking in his lap. "And..".

Justin watched him expectantly " And..?".

"..I do still like you Justin" he said quietly.

"Really?" Justin asked excitedly.

"Yeah.." Lance looked up, blushing. "And I'm willing to give you another chance" he added.

Justin grinned wide and grabbed Lance's hand across the table. "You won't regret it" He said happily.


	13. Chapter 13

When Justin walked in the door he was happy to see Nick sprawled across the sofa.

"Nick!" He exclaimed happily. "Justin!" Nick replied with exaggerated excitement.

"How was you friend? Who was it again?" Justin asked as Nick moved his feet so he could fit on the couch.

"Howard, and he's fine".

"That's cool, that's cool.." Justin nodded nonchalantly.

Nick noticed the unusual amount of excitement on Justin's face, that he seemed to be trying to hide.

"So.." Nick playfully shoved Justin's thigh with his feet. "What's been happening with you?" He asked, in a tone that said he knew Justin had big news.

"Um.." Justin looked down and blushed a little bit. A grin spread over his face.

"What is it?" Nick asked impatiently, but with a smile. He moved to sit upright.

"Well, you're never going to beleive this, but, you remember Lance right?".

"Yeah?".

"It turns out he works for AJ and he was the guy I got paired with to do my training".

"What!?" Nick laughed. "That is so random! Wow, I'm so sorry that I wasn't here, that would have been so awkward!" He exclaimed, still laughing a little bit.

"Yeah.. It was a bit" Justin giggled slightly.

"Why didn't you text me or call me about it? You have my number" Asked Nick, slightly bothered.

"Ah.. You know.. You were with Howard. I didn't want to bother you" Justin answered unconfidently.

Nick furrowed his brow "Why would that bother me? Like, 'Oh no, my best friends wants to tell me something interesting' poor me" he joked.

"I'm.. really your best friend?" Justin asked, looking up at him brightly.

"Well duh.. Aren't we?" Nick checked.

"Yeah.. Well, you're my best friend. I just didn't know that I was yours. I haven't been anybody's best friend since I left Orlando" Justin replied honestly.

"Aww Justin" Nick sympathized, not really knowing what else to say.

He didn't know how Justin had managed living away from home as much as he had. Justin was such a cheerful guy to live with that sometimes Nick would forget how messed up stuff had been for him.

At times like this he reminded Nick of a stray puppy that he had adopted. Behind the smiles and jokes Justin seemed kind of lost and lacking a direction. Not that Nick wasn't the same, but he was used to it.

"There was more though.. About Lance.." Justin continued.

"What is it?".

"I actually.. I asked him if he would give me another chance and he said yes" Justin said bashfully.

"Really?" Nick's face became more serious, but only for a moment.

"Yeah, it's unexpected I know, but i realized that I don't want to let Kevin control my choices anymore. I want to be able to be in a relationship without being afraid" Justin explained.

"Wow.." Nick paused to take in this information. "Then I'm proud of you for taking the chance, Justin" he responded, eyebrows still raised with surprise. "You uh, you figure Lance is the guy you want to be in a relationship with?" He asked, trying to not come off as hesitant as he was.

Justin nodded. "I think so. He's actually really great and he's so different to guys that I've been with before. Maybe Chris was right. He seemed to think that he would be really good for me and Chris has been in way more relationships than I have".

" How many relationships have you been in?" Nick asked, realizing Justin had never told him.

"Like..3? Kevin was the only serious relationship though. The other two barely even count." Justin answered.

Knowing this, it made more sense to Nick why Kevin had effected Justin as much as he had.

"What about you?" Justin nudged.

"I dated a bunch of girls in school. I haven't been with anybody since I moved out here though" he answered.

Justin was puzzled by his response. How could Nick lie to him so easily? He wished that he didn't even know about Tim, but now that he did it was hard to forget.

After Nick referred to Justin as his best friend, it hurt even more to be lied to.

"..What?" Nick asked confusedly. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you Beleive that I actually used to be quite popular with the ladies?" He joked.

"I Beleive you" Justin forced a smile. He believed that part at least. Nick looked like the kind of guy who would have no trouble getting a date.

"So uh, what are you gonna do with Lance? Got anything planned?" Nick prodded.

"We talked about it a bit at work. Because he's already so anxious about social stuff in general I didn't want our date to make it worse. So I said that it didn't bother me what we did, if we got to hang out." Justin explained.

"That was nice of you" Nick smiled tiredly.

"Well you know, even though him stumbling over his words is cute, we kind of need to both feel comfortable to really get to know each other".

Nick nodded.

"So I asked him what we could do that would make him feel the most comfortable. He invited me to his place after work tommorrow. We're gonna watch some movies and hang out" Justin informed him.  

Nick raised an eyebrow "Watch some movies and 'hang out'?.. On a first date?.. Wow I just.. I just didn't see Lance as that sort of guy".

Justin shoved Nick. "It's not like that! Why do you have to make it dirty?". Not that he would be complaining if it was. He'd been feeling a bit deprived, compared to what he was used to.

"I'm sorry" Nick chuckled. "Just.. If a girlfriend of mine had invited me over to watch movies and 'hang out' then it was usually code for-"

"I know" Justin interrupted, holding his hand up to stop him. "But Lance is so.. innocent. I'm pretty sure he really does just want to watch movies" he said bashfully.  

"We'll.. That's a bit cute then" Nick conceded. "I hope it goes well" he tried to say convincingly.

"Thanks Nick".

"That's ok. Hey look! That movie we wanted to see is on after this show" Nick exclaimed, changing the subject.  

"Oh wow, awesome. I might quickly make something to eat before it starts. You want any of whatever I make?" Justin offered, standing up.

"Nah, I'm fine" Nick declined.

 

 

Some time passed and Justin returned from the kitchen with his creation.

"And just what is that?" Nick commented on the red mess on Justin's plate.

"It's something me and Chris made when we had no money and almost no food in the house. We cooked up a bunch of rice, mixed it with canned corn or whatever canned thing we had. Then we went to the McDonalds down the road and took a bunch of the complimentary tomato sauce and pepper packets and just dowsed it in it"

"..gross" Nick frowned.

"No, seriously, you have to try it. If you close your eyes it almost feels like you're eating a burrito" Justin grinned and held his fork out to Nick.

Nick reluctantly took it.

"Close your eyes" Justin instructed.

If he hadn't closed them, Nick would be rolling his eyes at Justin.

He tried a bit. "It's.. I guess kind of reminiscent of a burrito? Like, the basic concept anyway.." He giggled. "That's a bit of a reach though".

Nick handed the fork back to Justin. " You know, if you really wanted a burrito that much I could just buy it for you" he offered.

"No, you already do more than enough for me. Besides, I like this, it tastes.. Homey" Justin said bittersweetly.

Nick smiled. Justin was such a weirdo sometimes, but he found it kind of cute. He found a lot of things about Justin kind of cute.

Their movie started and after that Nick was quiet. Justin found this a little strange, normally they would be making remarks back and forward about the movie they watched. But this time Nick seemed kind of distracted, like he was watching, but he wasn't even paying attention. Justin didn't think much of it though.

"I'm going to bed" Nick said tiredly, standing up as the movie ended.

"But it's still so early" Justin commented, a little confused.

"Yeah.. I'm worn out though, it's sleep time" He patted Justin's shoulder without making eye contact, then walked to his room. "Goodnight".

"Goodnight" Justin called out just before the door slid shut.

Shortly after, Justin got up to decide which jeans he was going to wear tomorrow. He had to look good.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey :) thank you to anybody who's been sticking around for this story. I uploaded two chapters at the same time, so you'll want to go back a chapter if you haven't read it.

It was the last day of Justin's training with Lance. After it was over they wouldn't see each other as often at work. They would still see each other at morning breif with AJ, but then they would be randomly paired up with other employees, then sent to different locations. Justin was a little intimidated, he was used to Lance being there to help him, he didn't know if he was ready.

Lance commented that Justin seemed to have more energy than he had before. It was true. Justin bounced over to each customer with bright eyes and a winning smile.

He just felt really happy being around Lance, knowing that Lance liked him back. He was surprised that he had actually let himself feel genuinely excited about their 'date'.

His attitude seemed to rub off on the customers and he made two sales in row.

"Wow, good work! I'm really proud of you Justin" Lance congratulated as Justin's second happy customer walked away.

Justin turned back to him and grinned widely. It was definitely a confidence boost. "Thank you, you're a great trainer" He replied sweetly.

"Thanks, but it wasn't me who made those sales, you deserve the credit" Lance said modestly. However he appreciated Justin saying that.

The rest of the day went smoothly and Justin made three more sales. The amount of commission that he would make from just that would actually be enough to contribute to the household expenses with Nick, which was maybe what he was the most happy about.

 

 

As they waited for the train that would take them back to Lance's place, Justin excitement breifly turned to nervousness. What if there was no spark between them? What if he'd just gotten his hopes up and built Lance up to be something he wasn't? What if he had nothing to say? What if he was preparing for a of awkward silence? Was it bad for him to take a risk like this when they would have to see each other at work?

Then he looked over at Lance. The older boys body was stiff and his eyes cast to the floor. Justin realized that Lance was probably just as nervous as he was, if not more so. Lance might not have even been on a date before.

Well, Justin didn't even know if this counted as a date, but it was similar enough.

Justin delicately reached over and held Lance's hand. He noticed that his skin felt softer than his own.

Lance smiled at him, blushing slightly. Then looked around to see if anybody was watching them. He hadn't done public displays of affection with another guy before, he was a little bit worried.

"Don't worry, nobody cares" Justin reassured, squeezing his hand.

"You're right.." Lance sighed, hoping that he could Beleive him.

"And if they do.." Justin proceeded to act out some over the top kicks and punches that he had seen in the martial arts movie he had watched with Nick last night.  

He did this without letting go of Lance's hand, moving his arm with him. It made Lance giggle.

Justin stopped "..Sorry, I shouldn't be such a dork" he laughed. Remembering that he should be trying to impress Lance, not act like an idiot like he would around Nick.

"You're not a dork, you're funny" Lance comforted, swinging Justin's hand a little.

The train arrived.

The train ride went rather quickly, but Lance warned him that there was a bit of a walk from the station to the unit he lived in. It didn't bother Justin though.

 

 

When they had walked about half way, they stopped at a corner store to grab some snacks to have while they were watching movies.

They were both sweating from the walk so it felt amazing to step into the air conditioned store. Justin picked out a large bag of chips and Lance got two bags of gummi snakes.  

"You know, I never actually asked you who you live with" Justin remembered. "Have you got roommates or..?" Just asked as they left the store.

Lance nodded. "Yeah, I've got two, Britney and Christina".

"What are they like? Do you get along well?".

"Well..yes.. They are lovely girls, we're great friends. But..".

"But?"

"..Just trust me on this Justin, don't ever live with a couple" Lance chuckled.

"Why's that?" He enquired.

"Well, now it's basically my job to play mediator whenever they have a fight. They both want to cry on my shoulder about the other when they have issues. The fact that I'm friends with both of them makes it very messy" Lance explained.

"That would be.. really stressful" Justin sympathized.

"Yeah, but aside from that I love living with them. It's way nicer to live with friends than the share house I lived in before. Besides, it'snot like they're constantly fighting, it's just when they have a rough patch or when Britney's stressed from work." Lance clarified.

"What was the place you lived before like?".

"That was back before I was working for AJ. It was awful, I barely even knew the people that I lived with. What was worse, I didn't even want to know them. They were so rude and disrespectful. They would say that they had no problem with gay people, but whenever their annoying friends came over they would make homophobic jokes at my expense to seem cool. Then i would just have to smile and put up with it. They never cleaned up because they knew that I would". Lance sighed "I could go down the list but you get the gist".

"That would be awful, how did you get out?" Justin asked sympathetically.

" Luckily my name wasn't on the lease so it wasn't too hard to leave when i finally had somewhere else to go that i could afford".

"Was that when you moved in with Britney and Christina?".

" Yeah, they were best friends who had been living together in this two bedroom unit for a while. Then, when they 'finally' realized that they had feelings for each other, they didn't need the second room anymore. So they asked me if I wanted to move in".

Justin nodded. "Are they going to be home? Will I get to meet them?".

"Yeah, they will be" Lance panted as the road they walked on got steeper.

"Are we almost there?" Justin asked.

"That's it just there" Lance pointed to a large brick house. It had a vibe to it that reminded Justin slightly of a retirement home. It was quite basic, very plain and neat.

As they got closer Justin could see that the house was divided up into multiple units.

Lance led Justin to a door labeled with the number 2. Justin could see poorly cared for potted plants near the door, with small decorative fairy ornaments sitting in the soil. It would look quite charming if the plants weren't dying.

The door slid open while Lance was fumbling through his bag for his keys.

A blonde woman with black streaks through her hair stood before them, wearing hot pink track pants and a tight T-shirt.

"Hey guys" She moved over to let them inside. "You must be Justin, I'm Christina. Lance has told us a lot about you" she said in a friendly way.

"No I haven't.." Lance muttered embarrassedly, too quiet for anybody to notice. He was lying though.

"Hey Christina, nice to meet you" Justin smiled. Then he noticed the other blonde woman standing a little bit behind her. Her track pants matched Christina's but she wore a pale blue tank top instead.

"And you must be Britney?" Justin asked.

She nodded, smiling sweetly. "Yup, that's right. Hey, can I get you anything? Water? Soda?".

"No that's fine, thank you though" Justin declined.

"That's ok, you wanna come into our room and pick out some movies then?" Britney offered.

"Britney has a huge movie collection, it's kind of her thing" explained Lance.

"And her doll collection. I'm surprised that I even fit in this room" Christina commented as they walked in.

"Hey! There's your stuff here too" Britney pouted to her girlfriend.

"Yeah, like my posters" she joked.

Lance half giggled. The room the couple shared was very Britney. Not because Britney wouldn't be happy for it to be filled with Christina's things. But when it came to their stuff, Christina was the minimalist and Britney was the collector.  

Justin had never seen such a girly room before. He had grown up with brothers and even back home he had only had close friends who were guys. It looked like something out of a magazine.

Christina and Britney were unable to paint walls pink as they were renting, but it was obvious that would if they could. Instead, the majority of the furniture was painted a bright shade of bubblegum pink. Even the bed was pink with baby blue detail.

Shelves crowded the walls, displaying dolls and a large assortment of video tapes. It was quite impressive, there were entire rows just dedicated to Disney.

"Wow, that's quite a collection" Justin commented.

"Thanks, I've been collecting them since I was little. Back when I thought I was going to be a movie star" she smiled. "Anyway, pick anything you want".

She stepped back out of the way so that Justin and Lance could have a look.

Christina put her arm around Britney's waist. "You could still be a movie star" She murmured.

Britney forced a small smile but shook her head. She had given up on that a while ago.

"Hey, you're still young and you're gorgeous..and you can sing..and you can dance" She reassured.

"..So?" Britney remarked.

She knew that Christina was trying to help. But it was hard. Britney had made peace with the fact that she wasn't going to get to be in showbusiness. She kind of wished that Christina would too.

" 'So?' What I'm saying is you're ridiculously talented and you just need the right opportunity" Christina argued.

"That's just it though. It has nothing to do with talent, it's about how lucky you are and who you know" She folded her arms. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about it".  

" Ok.. sorry.." Christina muttered.  

 

Meanwhile, Lance and Justin were busily looking through the videos. Justin was stalling, hoping that Lance would decide on something so that he wouldn't have to decide himself. Unfortunately, Lance was the same.

"How about this?" Interrupted Christina, reaching over Lance's shoulder to grab a video.

"Muriel's Wedding? They're boys Chrissy" Britney giggled.

"So?" Christina scoffed "Movies don't have a gender". However, she put it back on the shelf.  

Christina stepped back and watched them being indecisive a little more. Then she had to intervene, it was just too awkward to watch.

"You want some help?".

"Uh.. Sure" Lance answered hesitantly. He was worried about picking something that Justin wouldn't like.

She slinked in front of Lance and knealt down to look at the bottom shelf.

"Have you seen this Justin?" She asked, holding up a movie with a dramatic looking cover.

"No, I haven't actually. My last housemate said it was really good though" He answered.

"It is, I've been trying to get Lance to watch it since it came out" She replied, handing the video to Justin to look at.

"Isn't it a sort of heavy movie?" Lance hesitated.

"Yeah, but it's ok" Britney interrupted, Reaching around Lance to grab a video. "Just watch this when you're done to lighten the mood" She slid The Parent Trap into Lance's hands.

Christina snorted.

Britney turned back to her. "Hey! Lindsay is adorable! Ok?" She said indignantly.

"I know, I know" Christina smiled. She had been made to watch that movie so many times by Britney.

Lance nervously studied Justin's face, trying to gage his approval of their suggestions. Justin was too busy reading the description on the back of the video to notice.

Then Justin looked back up at him. "I'm keen if you are" he said, handing Lance the video.  

"Ok, great" Lance replied with a small smile.

"Thanks for the help" Justin said politely.

"That's ok, have fun guys" Christina coaxed them out of her room. "And you won't have to worry about us spoiling 'the mood', we'll just be hanging out in our room" She playfully added.

"Thanks" Lance said somewhat sarcastically as she shut the door. She really knew how to make him feel embarrassed.

"So uh.. I guess that means we have the lounge room to ourselves then" Lance said nervously, leading Justin to a velvet couch that was a dull vintage shade of pink. "I'll just get the movie set up".

Justin sat down and watched him put the tape in the video player.

When it was set up, Lance paused the movie and looked back over his shoulder. "Hey, would you like to borrow some more comfortable clothes? I figure I might change out of my work clothes before the movie" He offered, noticing that he and Justin were both wearing their uniforms.

"Um.. Yeah sure, ok" Justin stood up and followed Lance to his room, he waited just in front of the doorway.

Lance's room was so tidy and.. blank. It didn't tell Justin anything about him, not the way that Christina and Britney's room had. He cautiously walked in and sat on Lance's bed.

"Would you like some pajama pants?" Lance asked as he opened his wardrobe.

"Yeah.. Thank you" Justin replied, he was distracted by a poster that he noticed on the inside of the wardrobe door.

"NASA?" Justin commented interestedly.

"What?.. Oh, that. I'm a bit of a nerd for space stuff" he said, somewhat awkwardly. "Is it obvious?" He joked, holding up a pair of pajama pants that were covered with stars and planets.

"Those are great" Justin laughed.

"You want to wear them?".

"Yeah?" Justin replied, a little hesitant.

Lance threw them over to him. "Would you like to borrow a clean shirt too?" He offered.

"Um, if it isn't any trouble".

"It's no trouble" Lance smiled. "It'll be way more comfy than sitting around in our work stuff" He added, throwing Justin a black tank top.

Lance picked out a pair of pajama pants and a shirt for himself then walked towards the door. "That stuff looks like it should fit you, but let me know if it doesn't. I'll get changed in the bathroom, you can get changed in here if you want" Lance suggested.  

"Ok.. Sure.." Justin replied. Lance walked out and shut the door behind him.

It seemed weird to Justin for him to be so modest, he already knew what he looked like naked. He sort of got why Lance would be like that, but it was weird.

Justin changed into the clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. He tried to neaten his curly hair with his fingers.

He decided that he looked ok. Even though the pants were a little silly to be seen in on a first date, the shirt semed to flatter his muscular body.

He walked out of the room at almost the same time that Lance walked out of the bathroom. He wore plain grey pajama pants and a slate blue singlet. A smile spread over Justin's face when he saw him. He was such a pretty man, Justin was a little taken aback.

"Ok, are we ready?" Lance asked.

Justin nodded and walked over to the sofa.

 

 

 

The movie was much sadder than either of them had anticipated. It had a reputation for being a bit of a tearjerker, but Justin was not prepared for the way it ended.

"I'm just going to get a glass of water" Justin said, standing up abruptly.

"Would you like me to show you where their kept?".

" N-No.. That's ok, I'll figure it out" Justin replied and hurried into the kitchen, feeling the tears well up in his eyes.

He wondered what made him feel like a sad movie was a good idea for a first date. He tried to breathe deeply as he looked through the kitchen for where they kept the glasses. But tears kept falling down his face. This was terrible.

He couldn't let Lance see him crying over some movie, not the first time they hang out together.Not to mention, Lance looked perfectly composed. It was so embarrassing and he didn't want Lance to decide he was weird.

He tried to force himself to smile and think about something other than the ending. He breifly thought about what it would be like when he tells Nick about this and suddenly, his smile didn't feel as forced. Nick would probably make fun of him for it, but in a way where he's laughing with him, not at him. Nick has a way of making him be less serious, more able to laugh at himself.

He filled up a glass of water and took his time drinking it. He leaned back againat the bench and took some deep breaths. Then he wiped the tears away and blinked his few times, trying to look normal.

Justin walked back to the couch and sat next to Lance, fairly confident that it wasn't very obvious that he'd been crying. He was wrong, but Lance pretended that he didn't notice. He didn't think that Justin was weird for it though. He was surprised, he thought it was sweet. Truth be told, he had been holding back some tears of his own.

"Britney was right, The parent trap is exactly what I feel like watching after that" Justin commented.

Lance giggled "Yeah, she's pretty good with that sort of stuff".

An awkward pause followed, neither of them knowing what else to fill it with.

" I uh.. I guess I'll turn it on" Lance decided, getting up to put the tape in the player.

About half way into the movie Justin moved closer to Lance and put his hand in his, then he tiredly leaned his head on Lance's shoulder. It made him feel all warm inside, it was nice to feel that way without it being about sex. It felt like it had been so long since he had really touched anybody, or been touched. He just wanted to be closer to Lance.  

At first it made Lance feel nervous. But then he let himself enjoy it. He gently traced his thumb over Justin's hand. Being with Justin like this felt so sweet and innocent compared to their first encounter.

They were barely even paying attention to the movie anymore.

Justin lifted his and gazed into Lance's pale eyes. Lance gazed back, though he was a bit more shy about eye contact than Justin was. Eventually he mirrored Justin's infatuated smile.

"Hey, I just wanted to check something.." Justin asked.

"What is it?"

"Um.. Well.." Justin was a lot more nervous about asking this than he had anticipated. He was just so distracted by how pretty Lance was and how nice he was, how he was like the opposite of Kevin and just how much he didn't want to mess this up. "I know i have before but would it..bother you if I kissed you again?".

"Wow..um no..it wouldn't bother me" Lance smiled shyly, a little surprised. Surprised by Justin wanting to kiss him, but also by how delicate he was about asking, considering how they had done way more than just kiss before. But, it was kind of like they had started over again. Though, it wasn't like Lance had forgotten how irresistible Justin had seemed that night.

They kissed and it felt a lot more restrained than the first time. Justin felt like he had to hold himself back a bit. In the moment, when he tasted his lips, when he felt his hands on him, Justin wanted to go further. But he knew that he shouldn't, that wasn't what this was about.

It was slightly unfamiliar territory for Justin though, kissing without it being a lead up to something else. At least, it hadn't been familiar for a while. He wanted to get used to that though. He wanted to be happy.  

Lance didn't seem to notice Justin's inner struggle and just enjoyed the kiss for what it was. Just a kiss.

Justin snuggled into Lance and they went back to watching the movie, occasionally making small talk about things that happened in it. Justin felt safe in Lance's arms, but as time went by he felt slightly unsettled. He wondered if it was bad that they weren't talking much. But it kind of felt like a comfortable silence, like nothing really needed to be said. Maybe. Justin wasn't sure.

It worried him though. It reminded him of how little he and Kevin would talk at times. But with other people that he has been close to like Nick they would be talking pretty much the entire time they hung out. Compared to him and Nick though, Justin didn't talk that much with any people he had dated. Compared to him and Nick, Chris and Danielle didn't talk much either. Maybe it's just a relationship thing. This comfortable silence.

Maybe he wasn't meant to keep comparing his interactions with others to he and Nick's. It's just that Nick was the only person he had been close to that wasn't Kevin since he left Orlando. He doesn't have many examples of what positive relationships look like to measure potential partners against. But maybe he is shouldn't expect the relationship he has with somebody he dates to resemble how he would be with his best friend. Or maybe he should.

There was a lot about relationships that Justin found confusing or felt that he didn't quite understand.

 

 

"Is that your phone?" Lance asked at the sudden ringing.

"Oh, yeah, it is" He sat up and reached into his pocket. "It's my housemate Nick, is it ok if I answer this? I'm really sorry".

"Don't worry about it, I'll just pause the movie" Lance said, picking up the remote.

"Thank you" Justin said sincerely.

He hit the answer button.

"Hey Nick, what's up?

Wait..are you ok?

..

Slow down, I don't understand you, what's happened?

..

Aaron?.. Your brother Aaron? Is he ok?"

Lance was very concerned, but was worried that he might be intruding. He stood up and put a hand on Justin's shoulder "I'll give you a moment" he said delicately and walked over to see what Christina and Britney were up to.

"He is for now. It's my fucking Mum, Justin, he told me that she's got him an agent now. Since I left Mum just turned Aaron into her new showpony instead" Nick exclaimed, obviously crying.

"And you didn't know about it?" Justin clarified.

"No! Of course not! I would never let her put Aaron through what I went through. He deserves to have the childhood that I didn't get to have. But he hadn't told me about it because he didn't want to upset me. My little kid brother was worried about my feelings and protecting me, the adult" he cried.

"..I'm so sorry Nick..".

"He only told me because a music video that he had a part in is getting quite a lot of play on TV and he knew I'd see it". Nick inhaled sharply and sobbed more " It's all my fault! I'm so selfish, why didn't I think about Aaron when I left? Of course Mum would just use him instead of me. So now I'm off being happy while my kid brother works in my place. I'm the worst big brother in the world!".

"You're a great big brother Nick, I know that you care about him a lot".

" Yeah? Then why aren't I there? I'm supposed to protect him".

"You're not responsible for your mothers actions. You did what you had to'.

Nick just sobbed more.

Justin paused, unsure of how to comfort him.

" I'm coming home" Justin decided.

"No! I didn't want to ruin your date with Lance.. I just.. I just didn't know who else to tell.." He said sadly.

"You're not ruining it, he will understand. You're my best friend, I'm coming home" Justin declared. He hung up before Nick could argue.

He stood up and walked over to Britney and Christina's room.

"Justin.. What's going on? Is Nick ok?" Lance asked. The girls looked at Justin concernedly too.

"Not really, some family stuff has come up for him".

"Is he going to be ok?" Lance asked concernedly.

"I don't know. I should probably go home and check on him".

" oh.." Lance looked a bit dissapointedly. "That's ok, I understand" He reassured, standing up from where he had been sitting on the bed.

"I'm really sorry Lance, I'll make it up to you somehow".

"Hey, don't worry about it. These things happen" said Lance as they left the room.

"I know.." Justin sighed, checking that he hadn't forgotten anything. "But.. I'm sorry..".

Lance smiled weakly.

"You'll probably want to change out of those pajamas, unless you want to catch the train in them" Lance reminded him.

Justin looked down at himself and furrowed his brow. "Oh..yeah, I forgot".

"I'll go put on a jacket while you get dressed. I'll walk you to the station" Lance decided.


End file.
